deere people in the two first chapters and the other part concerneth their deadly enimies which is deliuered in the thirde chapter That part which concerneth the Iewes containeth most fearefull and forcible reasons to moue their rebellious harts as first a particular rehearsal of those iudgements that now were comming which is in the first chapter and vnto the eighteenth verse of the second Secondly most sweete promises of large liberalitie if yet though sentence of destruction were pronounced they would receiue the pardon before the iudgements is set the stile of the prophet or the inscription of the whole booke contained in the three first verses wherein he describeth the summe of the prophesie by calling it the word of the Lord First by shewing the ministering cause thereof namely The word of the Lord which came to Ioel the sonne of Pethuel verse the first Secondly the subiect or persons whom it concerned in the two next verses by most excellent exhortatiōs first of hearing where he noteth the persons namely the elders and all the inhabitants of the land and then the thing it selfe whether they euer heard of the like in the second verse Heare ye this O elders and harken ye all inhabitants of the land whether such a thing hath beene in your daies or yet in the daies of your fathers c. The other exhortation is to perswade them not to silence the prophesie but to tell and declare it first to their children present Secondly that they shewe likewise the same to other ages following which the prophet expresseth in these words in the third verse saying Tell you your children of it and let your children shew to their children and their children to another generation Thus much for the diuision now to the wordes and exposition Ioel. verse 1. The word of the Lord which came to Ioel the sonne of Pethuel These words of the prophet are thus much in effect This selfe same prophesie which hereafter followeth is the very word of God which he himselfe sent to the people by the ministerie of Ioel the sonne of Pethuel where we obserue these doctrines following First that the sermons of the prophets are the sermons of the Lorde himselfe for so saith this scripture that Ioels prophesie is the word of God In Nehemiah the ninth chapter and the thirtieth verse in that sweete confession which the Leuites made vnto God in the behalfe of that whole people thus they say Thou didst forbeare them many yeeres and protestedst among them by thy spirite euen by the hands of their prophets but they would not heare Euen thus they confesse their rebellion after they had been well whipped with seuentie yeeres captiuitie they had taken foorth this lesson that those despised sermons which once they spurned with their shooes and trod vpon with their feete were now manifestly declared to be the very word of God Wherein no doubt they shewe and testifie vnto vs that the truth of scriptures in the mouthes of Preachers will then be acknowledged when men haue been well nurtured in the schoole of aduersitie in so much that euen these wordes which now are but like the dreames of phrentick men will then become as deere vnto vs as the oracles of heauen Oh how stubborne is the conceite of our hard harts which will not be taught till they smart nor yet be instructed till they be corrected Shall the seruant say he hath no master except euery day he punish his faults or the sonne denie his owne father because in lenitie and fatherly pitie he beareth with his lewdnesse Yet our miserable times are such wherein men thinke preaching to be vaine except in persecution and reading to be needlesse except in calamitie and praier to be friuolous except in their sicknes But bid these wretches to the banket of afflictions wherein they may be throughly scourged with temporall miseries as the proud persons to shame the Atheists to death the swearer to the slaughter the drunkard to famine the gentleman to pouertie and the theefe to the halter then they will crie as lowde as hungrie lions that the scriptures which they neglected the prophets whom they reuiled the sermons which they contemned and the words of preachers which they disobeied are the actes of parliament made by God himselfe like these Iewes which now were humble after they had been in Babylon In the second Epistle of Peter cap. 1. vers 21. the holy Ghost also witnesseth that Holy men of God spake as they were mooued by the holy Ghost What is that but plainly to auerre that not the preachers but the spirit that speaketh in the preachers This also is confirmed by waightie and special arguments or reasons drawne from the very word it selfe First in Numbers the two and twentieth chapter and eighteenth verse where Balaam telleth the seruants of Balaack that if he would giue him his house full of golde he cannot goe beyond the word of the Lord to doe more or lesse If then such sorcerers and diabolicall persons in the cause of God can speake nothing but what he suggesteth much more the prophets and heauenly preachers can vtter nothing but what the holy Ghost inspireth Againe the prophets and true ministers of God for the words sake only aduenture their states and hazard their liues 1. Kings cap. 22. vers 14. 27. which they would not nor could not except vpō sure ground of heauenly warrant Who would except desperate mad men vndoe themselues and suffer most intolerable torments for rebuking of sinne vnlesse they were caried by an ouerruling power euen as Ionah to Niniueth or Micheah to Ahab to eate the bread ofsorrow and drinke the cup of death that when they might ioyfully solace themselues among their friendes or quetly rest in their poore habitations they are sorowfully vexed by their cruell enimies hauing the stinking prison for their easelesse harbour I grant that heathen men haue for vaine deuises endured many torments Popish Iesuits neglecting their owne liues their princes mercy haue do daily imbrace the gallowes but their sufferings are for matters cleane contrary to the worde of truth and therefore with Tertullian it may better be saide to bee desperate presumption then Christian persecution and the diuels souldiers rather then the Lords martyrs Wherein let vs with teares of brine lament our humane miserie that thus casteth it selfe away from worldly comfort and heauenly ioyes vpon bare and weake groundes of vncertaine seruing of God Howe strong are the delusions of subtill Sathan which hath bewitched the mindes of men so farre that they haue also offered their yoong children and tender babes through violent flames for the diuels sacrifice could not their weeping eies and crying teares procure no pittie in their hard harted parents No no where superstition sitteth iudge neither nature nor reason may dare to pleade the cause This is the diuels cunning to bewitch his members imitating the true seruants of God to endure death Augustine said
againe If euer it be needfull that the congregation should be great then it is most requisite to be enlarged when occasion of lamentation is offered that as many mens voices made the Lord to spare the Niniuites so many may cause him to reuerse his iudgements from vs. For truely as in war against an enimie hauing muaded our countrey we are ingenerall to lift vp our handes against him to driue him from vs so ought we being endangered by the hande of God to put on euerie one his complete armour of righteousnes that euery mans heart and voice may be lifted vp to stay his heauy hand from vs. How do men neglect this thing which thinke it in vaine to serue God and therefore though they know other men to be most busie in lamenting for their calamities yet they forsake not their tauerns their shops their counting houses their husbandries their marriages and other their paltries when as the sworde is as neere them as their garments yet they dread not the same and so as before they neglected the graces of God so now they abuse the long suffering of God making their latter ende woorse then their beginning like the old world which would not beleeue though they saw Noah enter into the arke and so the flood came and destroyed them all and so shall it doe with those except God enlarge his mercies and they cast away their stubburnnes Alas alas for the day of the Lord is at hand and it commeth as a destruction from the Almightie Now are we come to the praier which by the mercifull assistance of God his heauenly spirit we will most briefly and effectually handle First therefore the method which the holy prophet vseth is to be obserued wherein he lamenteth generally vers 15. and then particularly the meanes or causes of their destruction In this verse he generally toucheth all the calamitie when he calleth it the day of the Lord the dread and conscience whereof maketh him most yearnefully and pitifully to crie out Alas alas Where first of all commeth to our consideration this doctrine that good men do sorrow and mourne for the Lords iudgement before it commeth as this Prophet which sayeth the cause of his teares to bee this because the day of the Lord is at hand so we may read did Elishah 2. King 8. 10. when Hazael came vnto him and he had annointed him king of Syria it is said that he wept and Hazael asked him why he wept to whom he answered bicause it grieued him to thinke what he should do to Israell for hee should set their strong cities on fire and slay their yoong men with the sword and dash their infants against the stones and rende in peeces their women with childe Was not this a sufficient medicine to looke on and to make a heart of brasse to burst foorth into many teares For I thinke none considering such a destruction in his countrey but he will weepe for it bitterly It is enough many thinke to sigh when they be sore and then to weepe when they bee in paine and why should they torment themselues before they feele the miserie Yea rather why dost thou reason thus against thy God Thinke on the daies of miserie that are comming and doe as these prophets breake foorth into abundance of lamentation to thinke how our towres shall be plough lands our treasures shall be in other mens coffers our coastly buildings be razed in an instant our riuers shall runne with blood our children shall be the pray of souldiers and our wiues bee most cruelly murthered Oh that men before these daies could lament for the same yea although their eies should neuer see it yet let them weepe for them that shal feele it The reasons of this doctrine are these first because they reape this profit by the forewarning of God Iere. 4. 18 19. if God of his great goodnes open the destruction of any people or citie to any of his welbeloued sonnes they are presently astonished men and swallowed vp in many sorrowes but wicked men although they bee neuer so often admonished yet they remaine wicked and obstinate still Oh what a blessing is a soft and beleeuing heart which doth not onely receiue the wordes of God for truth but is presently affected as if they felt the iudgements When Elijah had told Ahab of God his vengeance against him then Ahab wept and fasted and the Lord spared him his time so I doubt not but there be many which hauing heard the trumpe of God his iudgement in the mouthes of the Lords preachers they haue wept bitterly and I thinke the Lord will spare vs for their time but take heed least the godly be deminished and no man consider it least our destruction be the more sudden and lift vp more voices of weepings at the voices of preachers that more time may bee graunted vs to be freed from vengeance Another reason is because good men although they bee assured of themselues yet it grieueth them to thinke how the wicked shal be destroyed Luke 19. 41. Our Sauiour there weepeth for Ierusalem which should be laide euen with the ground A good man is euer mercifull euen to the most vile and wretchedst creatures in the world and therefore it goeth to their harts to heare and see consider and thinke vpon how heapes and multitudes of men shall go to confusion Some would thinke that it is no reason to sorrowe for other men but rather let other men sorow for themselues But Samuel whose teares and praiers came many times before the Lorde for Saule will answere them and instruct them to be carefull for other mens saluation as Ioab appointed his armie that if he were too weake Abishai should helpe him and if Abishai were too weake Ioab woulde helpe him so must we labour to helpe one another which seeme weake although we know some shall go to wracke The vses that offer thēselues to our consideration out of this doctrine are these First seeing that it is the part of a good man to sorrow at the foreknowledge of any calamity let vs receiue that exhortation of the Lord Ier. 6. 8. that we be instructed whē the Lord threateneth vs or else as he there saith His soule shal depart from vs leaue vs desolate as a land that none inhabiteth And I would to God my countrey men of England would learne this instructiō at the mouth of God that whereas there is none of graue or greene yeeres but they haue had many tokens and heard many thunderbolts of wrath drawn from the neuer vncertaine word of God and from the extraordinarie course of manifolde iudgements which we haue felt these late yeres that now we being inuited to this mourning feast we al com not one stay behind Oh therfore receiue this instructiō before the lords soule go away from our nation I bid you not leaue of your callings nor cast away your garments nor put away your
put thee in minde of the maker Because thou art forgetfull let thine inheritance remember thee of heauen let thy purchase remember thee of regeneration let thy fruites remember thee of thy life let thy haruest remember thee of thy death let thy store remember thy soule and let all remember thy poore brother The reasons of this doctrine are these first because the most prophane and wicked idolaters Iere. 4. 17 18 19. thinke that the onely cause of multiplying the fruites of the earth is for the worship of God and therefore who but Atheists can denie the same vnto him for he onely it is that maketh them to growe and blesseth all our stores and therefore most vnthankfull wretches are wee if for all we should render him none againe And this is much to be feared that the little regard which is had hereof in our land is the onely cause why our former yeeres haue brought forth no greater plentie for if we generally regarde the multitude we shall finde that those which haue the greatest fieldes the largest barnes the widest patrimonies and most store of riches haue and do make most bolde with the Lord and come least into his presence Another reason of this doctrine may be this because these benefites are the promised blessings to them that loue him Deut. 28. 1 2 3. which ought euermore to put vs in minde of our loue to God that we might loue him more and more and so receiue of him more and more abundantly let vs I beseech you consider our estate and not fall away from our first loue for seeing we haue had in former times greater plentie then now we haue let vs knowe for certaintie that our store is lesse because our loue is lesse When the Gospell came first among vs how ioyfully did we followe it and how diligently heare it in so much as the preachers being but few we would haue giuen them our owne eies if it had beene possible to doe them good but now we are as wearie of them as the Israelites were of Moses when they would haue stoned him and therefore then were we filled with loue and with plentie but now we are emptied of godly care and plagued with mortall want The vses which arise from the consideration of this point are these first that we desire of the Lorde to haue pitie and care for our lande which is wasted and to cast his eies to our poore and penurious time offamine and dearth Deut. 11. 12. For alas our miserie groweth so great and incurable euery day more more that we haue great cause to feare least his long suffering turne into wrath and our pinching famine into death Who hath beene cast downe throughly not for a day but for a yeere in this occasion surely few or none and therefore is the Lorde as a stranger among vs and as one that tarrieth but for a night O my deere brethren let vs at the length yet learne the true and right way to remedie our euill and to encrease againe the fruites of the earth how haue our pastures beene drowned our medowes ouerflowed our corne blasted and our tilled lande made barren insomuch as we may see or might not long since haue seene how the hils and mountaines wept foorth whole streames of water for their barrennesse Let vs followe their example and be ruled by their line to doe the like for it as it hath done for vs. It is not we see in the planter or in the waterer but in the Lorde that giueth encrease of him let vs entreate this blessing that his hande may bee staied in time before all bee left destitute and the face of our countrey like the lande of Sodom let vs labour in praier as we haue done in tillage let vs bestowe as much cost in supplication to pacifie our glorious God as we haue done in husbandrie to amende our barren lande if he say but the worde all shall bee remedied Oh let vs powre foorth wordes and liues and harts and soules that this may bee remooued Another vse heereof seeing these creatures as great crops of corne large fieldes and other things must onely serue vs that wee may serue God then how fearefull a thing is it to abuse any of these whereby both the worship and workmanship of God are defaced therfore the holy Ghost admonisheth Rom. 14. 20. that we destroy not the work of God for meates sake Some surfet in their abundance to their death other disfigure the good shape of their bodies through pride and vanitie such as are yoong gallants and gentlewomen and the more they haue receiued the more they haue abused some in their ease and idlenes are growne like tunnes in compasse being vnfit for labour vnprofitable to any goodnes and vnwoorthy of any blessinges The labouring mans estate is much to be commended though it be poore yet it is happie he is an image of Adam created to worke he is an image of God created in righteousnes and the image of Christ created for calamitie his health is maintained by labour his bodie is refreshed with rest his minde is renewed with religion and his life is studious of the Lordes worship his hungry morsels make him more thankefull to God then the great delicates of the rich his bare bread and water or small drinke giue him more healthie nourishment then the fowles and dainties of the other his life is wearied with labour his minde is prepared for God and his soule is readie for rest Let vs all liue in this trauaile that we may die in this manner let vs keepe vnder our bodies and lustes as we refraine a yoong colte and let moe bridles of abstinencie and sinceritie curbe shorter all our pleasure and vanitie Another doctrine which we may gather out of this verse may be this that seeing the creatures of God do call vpon vs to worship him and therefore they be helpers vnto vs therein wee gather that our worship of God in this life cannot possiblie bee absolute and perfect that wee shoulde bee alway like affected and obserue time place order and zeale in our religion for heere wee see that the worship of God was violated bicause the fruites of the earth ceased our knowledge is obscured by naturall ignorance our time is omitted through sorrow sickenes care and worldly busines our harts are hindered through feare loue ioy pleasure vanitie and temptation and a thousand other waies shall wee finde that all we can doe in the Lordes seruice is but in part as Paul prooueth 1. Cor. 13. 9 10. How wicked are the bragges of them that boast of their vprightnes whereby they serue the Lorde thinking that there is nothing but of themselues they bee able to performe it But wee must know that the greatest doctor the learnedest preacher and the painfullest hearer cannot comprehende or teach or learne whatsoeuer is requisite to our saluation no not the whole church of God togither so
all sorrowes to put away thy sins Another reason bicause vnto outward tokens of repentance the Lord is readie to giue remission Dan. 4. 23. when men satisfie their for iniuries distribute their goods weepe for their euils and pray for pardon then is the Lord most willing to seale a release in the blood of his sonne For in truth there must be a change in al the parts of a mans life possessions When a sicke man is recouered he weareth not the same clothes he vseth not his old diet or apparell and rest so when our soules are recouered by repentance then we cannot eate stolen bread nor weare gorgeous apparell nor yet rest in that wealth which wee vnlawfullie gayned but all must bee turned into charitie and pietie The first vse of this doctrine is this Isa 31. 6. seeing wee haue sunke deepe in rebellion let vs turne againe vnto the Lorde from whome wee are fallen as we were not ashamed to sinne so let vs not be ashamed to be conuerted As couetous men care not for their names so they may get wealth and vncleane persons little esteeme their infamie so they may fulfill their lusts and as theeues make but a pastime to rob and steale if they may escape the gallowes so let vs account it a farre lesse discredit to confesse our faults in goodnesse then they doe to commit them in wickednesse Turne therefore as we haue sinned we haue many sinnes let vs shed many teares we haue great sinnes let vs sigh many sorrowes we haue long dwelt in them let vs speedily forsake them we haue watched in sinne now let vs watch in praier we haue loued sinne let vs embrace correction we haue delighted in vanities let vs reioice in teares How can a man reioice in teares verily vnto a good soule teares are more welcome then ioyes and it reioiceth in tribulation finding it more safe to bee washed with weeping then to bee delighted in musicke There is not any man that hath felt the power of godlinesse that will denie this and if he doe let Dauid teach him when he protesteth that teares were his repast when the enemies of God reproched him Looke on thy soule weeping as thou wast woont to beholde thy pleasure reioicing and thinke that this is the Lordes great mercie towarde thee which hath yet knocked at thy hart for amendment loue the meanes which will make thee tender harted delight in those sorrowes which will procure thy endlesse ioyes shed thy teares here that hereafter thou maist be freed lament in sorrowes this life that in another thou maist reioyce in comforts Secondly let vs not alway lie in sorrowes and liue vnreformed but follow the counsell of the prophet Ier. 26. 13. to make our waies of euill good When men are repentant they enter into a new iourney for as before they were ioyfully sailing to hell so now they are painfully trauelling to heauen and seeing a good way is the wish of a traueller let vs amend our waies that we may hasten to our iourneyes ende When thou hast well drenched thy soule in sorrowes then proceede to reformation and remooue those blocks out of thy life which would haue hindered thy passage into heauen If thou hast beene a drunkard be now temperate hast thou been an Atheist now feare God if thou haue beene a swearer vse his name more reuerently and as Paul said of theeues Let him that stole steale no more so say I of all notorious sinners let them be so no more but rather labour to doe good vnto other By this we may see that repentance is not in shew but in hart not in hart but in works not in works but in affections not in affections but in conuersation Some thinke they haue well repented if they be a little sorrowful other thinke they are well reformed if they be a little reclaimed and wearie of theirvanities but these men must knowe that if good liues bee not ioyned with godly mindes and reformed waies with weeping harts neither the one nor the other shall profit them Therefore now my deere brethren let vs win the field from our sinnes and ouerthrowe the troupes of our pleasures let vs now conquere our desires and reforme all the abuses of our liues that wee may yeeld to the gospell liue in the church eate at the Lordes table and worke out our owne saluation with feare and trembling In the second place the Lord biddeth them to fast that is to abstaine from all delights and desire of meates that as they haue alreadie pined their soules with sinning so now they should punish their bodies with fasting And in this place the prophet speaketh of priuate fasting for as yet he is not come to the publike fasts which must be directed by the cleargie-men who onely had authoritie to proclaime them of the which we haue spoken in the first chapter In this place we may obserue that hainous offences and generall must haue greeuous and generall lamentation It is most requisite that when we haue any graund cause to craue at the Lords hand we vse most humble tokens of an instant and longing desire Iudg. 20. 26. The Israelites ouercome by the Beniamites fast and pray al the day till euening and the day following they get the victorie the which is a warrant for vs to doe the like that wee may so slay our sinnes as they did their enimies The which must instruct euerie man in his familie during these times of vengeance wherein we haue no more power to be deliuered then a woman in trauell to cast foorth her childe that they abstaine from glutting and deuouring the Lords benefites For the Lord will not redresse our want till wee haue generally lamented our miserie and we can no way better punish our bodies then by fasting that the Lorde may be mooued to pitie vs as he did Abraham being willing to sacrifice his sonne yet he restrained him The first reason is this bicause fasting maketh vs praie with more feeling affection which our Sauiour insinuated Matth. 17. 21. when he saide that fasting and praier woulde heale the falling euill and nothing else Indeede to shewe you howe men are affected in the time of their fasting I can hardlie doe it except youfelt it howe sweete are their sorrowes howe earnest are their praiers howe strong are their grones and howe acceptable are their hearts vnto the Lorde their teares are their drinke their cares are their meate their nakednes their brauerie ashes their beauty humilitie their health their eies are not drouzie their mindes are not wearie their handes are not filthie and their cries are not easie The Lorde accepteth their obedience in doing that they are not able and their faith in beleeuing that they haue not in them and their praiers in desiring that which is aboue them then can men affoorde to die for God that they may liue for euer for themselues Another reason is bicause fastes doe mightily mooue
sinne which they doe not in other corporall plagues Psal 74. 1. The wrath of God made our Sauiour to sweate water and blood which comming vpon men although they cannot sweate as he did because they cannot resist as he did yet they feele in themselues such terrible horrours as amaze the strong and confound the weake From hence it commeth that some in this extremitie thinke that all that they do is for their condemnation their meat drinke apparell health and libertie are vnto many weake minds tokens of the Lords wrath Indeed they which are burned with this iron thinke that euery house will ouerwhelme them and euerie leafe that falleth on the ground will hurt them the noyse of any thing doth trouble them and a sharpe worde almost killeth them Terrible is a life lead vnder such conflicts for euery howre threatneth a thousand deathes the hart euer accuseth the memorie witnesseth against it selfe his owne reason condemneth him and his continuall feare is his cruell tormentor The first vse Let vs not be discouraged in these woefull torments but take example by our Sauiour Christ who for the glorie that was set before him most patiently endured the greatest crosse A hell thou must needs haue thou canst not eschue it therefore chuse it in this world where thou shalt finde mercie with God comfort in his word and solace in his church in the world to come thou shalt haue none of these Make heere thy apprentiship vnto sorrows where thy friends may accompany thee thy praiers may quiet thee and thy ioyes may recompence thee Why art thou afraid that thou canst not abide such paines then looke vnto God the author and finisher of thy faith Art thou in doubt to suffer shippewracke and despaire then knowe that GOD tempteth none beyonde their power Are thy friendes against thee yet the Aungels are with thee Louest thou not sorrowes then shalt thou neuer gaine ioyes if thou wouldest haue learning thou must endure the rodde if thou wilt haue golde thou must crosse the seas if thou wilt bee famous thou must take much paines and if thou wilt haue heauen thou must winne it by repentance Art thou yet afraide of thy selfe and canst not willingly vndergoe it set before thee the paines of this life and the plagues of the other life these are temporall those are eternall these are sufferable those are intollerable these are among men those among diuels these come of loue those of wrath and to conclude God shall mittigate these but hee will augment and aggrauate them Howe canst thou auoide death no more canst thou auoide hell If thou wouldest neuer die thou must neuer be borne and if thou wouldest neuer repent thou must neuer liue Let repentance bee thy purgatorie sinnes thy paines sorrowes thy tormentors and saie with Elijah Poure on more water that God may the more be glorified in thy saluation The second vse is the same that Dauid maketh Psalm 31. 23. after hee had tolde of this great extremitie and howe the Lord did set him at libertie he calleth vpon al the godlie saying Loue yee the Lorde yee his saints for he preserueth the faithfull and rewardeth abundantly the euill dooers Hearken vnto this you sorrowfull doues of the Lord your cause is not wicked your case is not desperate and your hope shall not be frustrate for the Lorde will deliuer you Is it not as easie for him to free you from sinne as from hell and from sorrowe as from damnation Yes verily and therefore loue the Lorde if you bee his saints Loue him I saie and hee shall loue you nay hee loued you first and therefore loue him againe Hee loueth you for hee looketh still vpon you and doe you loue him by looking stil vnto him hee loueth you and watcheth for your safetie do you loue him watch in his praises Which of vs liuing that were born in his church cannot say that the Lord hath wrought wonders for his annointed Tell thy soule what the Lorde hath done for it howe hee cast out the diuell and planted his spirite howe hee freede it from wrath and gaue it grace how he gained it from vengeance gaue it repentance Repentance I say with waterie eies leane bodie mournefull minde and miserable wounded heart and now for all this thou liuest in greater peace Therfore loue yee the Lorde yee his saints loue him as your husbande you are his wife loue him as your father you are his children loue him as your God you are his creatures and loue him as your life you are his ofspring Labour for him you loue pray to him you loue thinke vpon him you loue reioice in him you loue and then die to liue with him you loue thinke it long till you see him thinke it little that you giue him count it woe to forsake him and count it blessednes to loue him After hee had told them what they shoulde doe nowe hee telleth them what they shoulde not doe namely Not cut their garments Wherein he rebuketh the follie raigning in their and our times when they vsed to rent their clothes what careth the Lorde for a newe garment agaie cloke or a costly pearle All these shall perish but he endureth for euer And therefore rent not your garments onely not meaning it to bee vnlawfull to shewe an outward token of sorrowe but hee blameth curiositie and hypocrisie without inwarde sinceritie such as was in the high priest when he heard Christ say hee was the sonne of God hee rent his garments From hence we may gather that outwarde holines is abhominable All such religion as is onely for fashion praying and receiuing the Sacraments hearing of sermons and such like for meere shewe and companie Esay 57. 3 4. And if it bee lawfull to say that men are onely cyphers in religion when they know little or nothing and practise euill then may wee saie that there are more cyphers then figures in our daies You shall knowe them bicause they come but nowe and then to church where they fetch many a fained sigh and speake many ignorant Amen thinking that the worship of the Sabbaoth lieth in putting on their best apparrell and yet simple soules they are perswaded they be as good christians as can be of flesh and bloud and so they bee as Christes disciples were when hee saide vnto them O yee of little faith how long shall I bee with you how long shall I suffer you and so wee may saie to them howe long shall this simplicitie bee called christianitie and howe long shall faith giue place to opinion and howe long shall euerie base person extoll vaine profession against true Religion Oh I woulde they coulde bee brought vnto vs that wee might cast out this diuell from them The reasons of this doctrine are these because the Lorde trying the secret disposition of euery hart pronounceth that he is wearie of such fained worship and that his soule abhorreth it Isai 12.
our selues neuer so sinful Psal 9. 9 10. although we bee neuer so poore in spirit yet let vs know that ours is the kingdome of heauen So that if thou reason with the diuell himselfe who will if it be possible deceiue thy soule telling thee that thou art more vile then others and therefore it is but follie for thee to call on God for mercie yet say to thy soule that the Lord neuer despiseth the sighings of the poore although I haue sinned yet I haue sorrowed although I haue neglected grace yet with the Lord there is more grace be it that I haue no goodnesse in me the more neede haue I to goe to God the author of goodnesse Men seeke not to the phisition in health but in sicknesse and the more desperate is their disease the more speedily they sollicite him and a good phisition commeth quickly so I want the health of my soule and I see death standing at the doore and knocking for me therfore my praier shall goe to the Lord my physition and I knowe that he will speedily come vnto me He abhorreth not my weakenesse he hateth not my person he willeth not my destruction and therefore wil I pray for saluation I am exceeding base but he will bende to me I am very poore but he will giue mee the riches of the spirite I am a sinner and he is a Sauiour why shoulde I not goe vnto him and fall downe lowe vpon his footestoole for hee neuer despiseth the sighing of the contrite Giue not thine heritage That is the people whom thou diddest take vnto thy self aboue al the nations of the world from hence we may obserue as in a singular metaphor how deere the church is vnto God Deut. 4. 20. euen as deere as any mans inheritance is to himselfe for indeed an inheritance doth very fitly resemble and shadow out vnto vs the nature and condition of the church First because it is not woorth any thing except a man do plant sow the same and so is it in the church wherin if the Lord plow not and sow not there can no good thing grow therein Againe an inheritance is sometimes sold away for the barrennes thereof so when the church groweth secure and bringeth not foorth good fruits the Lord giueth it ouer for a season to be spoyled by strangers Againe if an inheritance will no way be amended then is it accursed and burned Heb. 6. 8. so if no means will reclaime the world from their wicked life then he accurseth them and giueth them ouer to the fire of hell Also as a man taketh singular comfort in his inheritance so the Lord doth in his church and as a man hedgeth and encloseth his inheritance to keepe it from being wasted euen so the Lord hath set a brazen wall about his church the which all the diuels in hell shall neuer be able to ouerthrow but men and angels shall fight for their safegarde and maugre sinne and hell they shall endure as the earth doth euen for euer and euer The first reason because hee might powre his blessing on it Esa 19. 25. for hee hauing many most excellent benefits in store hath made choise of his church to powre foorth all that he hath thereupon for whether we consider the blessings of this life or the benefits of the life to come they are all ordained for the good of them that be godly He is wise to instruct vs he is mightie to defend vs he is liberall to maintaine vs he is mercifull to receiue vs for our sakes were the heauens created the earth established the waters remooued and the fruits appointed for our sakes were the angels condemned the sonne of God crucified and the age and yeeres of the world is plunged Another reason because we should be holy vnto him Deut. 19. 2. Of all the creatures of this worlde there is none that can bee holy vnto the Lord saue onely mankinde for they are the image of God and if the lande whereupon Moses stood was holy much more is the land of our harts holy whereupon the Lord himselfe standeth for he raigneth in vs. And this is the cause why the Lorde hath made vs his inheritance that we should serue him in holines and righteousnes all the daies of our life for the heauens are holy whither wee are going the angels are holy with whom we shall dwell the church is holy wherein we liue and therefore we must bee holy or else we are accursed Seeing we are the inheritance of God purchased by his sonne then let not any of vs liue to our selues but to him that redeemed vs 2. Cor. 5. 15. how many waies might I vrge this doctrine that as the earth beareth not fruit for it selfe but for vs so should not we eate the fruits of our owne labours but offer them to the Lord. Our harts are the grounds our bodies are the hedges God his law is the plough the worde is the seede and himselfe is the husbandman Oh let vs not be ploughed and planted in vaine let vs not frustrate the Lords expectation and our soules saluation If we were but seruants yet we ought to worke for our hire but being his inheritance we must liue and die day and night to beare him fruit wee cannot put him away but he may put vs away our fruits do not profit him and yet the want of them will curse vs. Let vs not be for the weedes of sinne nor for pleasures to feede on as bullockes do on pasture-land but let vs bee his garden of sweete flowers his vineyard of fruitfull grapes his field of fine planted wheat and his possession for an euerlasting inheritance Let our words be as gratious fruit let our religion be as pretious pearle let our loue be as rockes of golde and let our bodies bee as fruitfull garners let vs bring him all for first fruits tenthes and offerings and sacrifices that we may be his blessed land vnto the worlds end Another vse seeing we are the Lords inheritance we may see that the Lorde will be very hardly driuen to forsake vs for he gaue a lawe Numb 27. that none shoulde sell awaie their inheritance but at the ende of fiftie yeeres euery one should reclaime thereunto So that if the Lord shall giue ouer his inheritance as hee did Israell Hos 5. 15. the case is very desperate but not perpetuall A man that hath manie barren fieldes doth not presently sell them away no more the Lorde which hath many barren soules in the compasse of his church doth presently forsake them but rather dresseth them by the ministerie of the worde that they may be made fruitefull Oh heare this you that are in the Lordes folde although he beare for a season with your barren hearts and suffer you manie yeeres to lie in rest thinking at the last you will bring him some profit bring it foorth with speede or else knowe that the Lorde which redeemed you from
goods whereas you should haue laide your goodes at the Apostles feete what will ye doe when the mouth of God shall pronounce your destruction for medling with his tithes and his offerings and his sacrifices and his liuings as the hand of God did Belshazzars depriuation on the wall surely not your knees will bend but your harts wil quake not your countenance will change but your conscience wil tremble not your loines wil be loosed but your liues not your wealth shall be only destroied but your soules bodies for euer euer Secondly we may obserue out of this vers when he saith that they haue caried into their temples his goodlie pleasant things that God accounteth preciouslie of the meanes of his worship howe basely soeuer the world and all worldlings doe iudge thereof Leuit. 1. 2. for he calleth them his goodly and pleasant things The which thing I woulde haue most diligently obserued that wee may so thinke of the thinges of God as the spirite of God doth deliuer them vnto vs that we finde them goodlie as full of grace and pleasant as filled with delight that we may all saie Oh Lorde howe sweete are thy lawes vnto our hearts yea sweeter then honie to our mouthes For carnall minded men see no more grace in a church then in a tauerne nor no more delight in a christian then in a ruffian nor esteeme any whit better of a preacher then a craftesman or finde any more sweetenesse in a sermon then a plaie or take any more delight in the Gospell then in a little pedlars french Oh howe basely are you minded that cannot thinke better of the Lords matters One of you thinke that there is great goodnesse in an eare of wheate another findeth great delight in a fielde flower another sporteth himselfe with the smell of a rose but none of you can feele any pleasure in that corne that bringeth bread of life or that flower that sheweth the worke of life or that rose that offereth the smell of heauen Laie away thy base thoughts of spirituall matters and knowe that the church is the Lordes house who is greater then a king that the preachers are the Lordes stewardes who are better then lordes that the Gospell is thy soules food sweeter than any iuncate that a christian is the Lordes friend better than any rich man that a sermon is thy Sauiours praise higher then any prince and that the fellowship of saints is more woorth then the valour of knights Thinke I saie howe goodly and pleasant are the wordes full of grace the companie full of goodnesse the praiers full of sweetenesse the Psalmes full of melodie and the soules full of sorrowe which are gathered togither before the Lorde in his church The reasons of this doctrine are these First because hee euermore regardeth what himselfe hath appointed Cant. 5. 1. His church is his garden and therefore he hath planted euery flower growing therin wherewithall hee cannot chuse but bee highly delighted as he was at the beginning when hee sawe that all his workes were good Another reason is bicause he punisheth them seuerely that contemne any part of his ordinance Heb. 2. 2. 1. Cor. 11. 30. and therefore he accounteth preciously of his worde which hee defendeth by his power and of his poore saints whom hee maintaineth by his angels and of his mercie which hee manifested in his sonne and of the neglect of his Gospell which hee punisheth by condemnation Let vs therefore honour whom God honoureth Act. 10. 15. and that which God accounteth precious let vs not cast awaie as vile Because Assuerus honoured Haman all the people of his kingdome did him reuerence and therefore because the Lorde thinketh well of the worde and of the Sacraments and of praier and of preaching and of hearing the Gospell let him bee a dead dogge that speaketh against the same But alas alas as Vasthi would not come although the king hir husband sent for hir so will not our Vasthies men women olde and yoong followe religion and come to the Gospell although God our father and Christ our husband send for them neuer so earnestly but she was rewarded for hir disobedience and was diuorced from the king and so I feare will bee the ende of verie many in our daies to be put out of the Lordes fauour and diuorced from the blessings of Christ And again let vs learne to put on our eies of faith that wee may commend that which God commendeth for except wee can beholde the workes of God and the Gospell of God with spirituall eies it shall neuer bee goodly and pleasant before vs and cast away the blockish dulnesse that oppresseth your braines like a drouzie nap in a shining daie which will not suffer you to beholde the light with any comfort But lift vp your eies as the children of light that you may see the beautie of Christes church the riches of the Lords spirit the treasures of the Lordes saintes the ornaments of a faithfull soule and the glorie of another life The children also of Iudah and the children of Ierusalem haue ye sold vnto the Grecians that yee might send them farre from their border This verse contayneth the last cause of the Lordes iudgement vpon his enimies for that they had sold his seed and seruants vnto the heathen nations with this policie because when they were carried far from their own countrey they should liue like slaues without hope euer to returne home againe These Grecians to whom they solde the people of God were Gentiles or heathens the posteritie of Iauan the sonne of Iaphet who was the eldest sonne of Noah And in this that the Lorde now calleth them to a reckoning because they had solde away his people although they were their captiues vnto infidels we may obserue that it is not lawfull to commit the children of the beleeuers into the handes of vnbeleeuers And for this cause it is reported Gen. 12. 5. that when Abraham was commaunded by God to goe out of Haran where all were fallen to idolatrie into the promised lande of Canaan he tooke with him Sarai his wife and Lot his brothers sonne for he would not leaue him in the hands of Terah Abrahams father and Lot his grandfather because with the residue he then was fallen to idolatrie And this example is a sufficient proofe of the matter to teach vs that we should so loue the soules of the righteous seede that we leaue them not resident among the infidels or Atheists or Papistes or other prophane wretches but to our owne cost and labour redeeme them from the diuels tyranny But in this we may lament First that euen in our times we may see many of yeeres of discretion to runne away into papistical and heathenish warres or else to sauegarde themselues vnder the liueries of them that are open enimies to the Gospell and many to binde and put their owne children the fruit of their bodie
and dearest cost for euen for these shall you receiue many thousand times more comforts in this world and ioyes in the world to come But oh my deerely beloued in the Lord I may complaine of the neglect of preaching and prophesiyng as Ieremie did of Ierusalem Lament 1. How doth that citie remaine solitarie that was full of people she is as a widow she that was great among the nations and princesse among the prouinces is made tributarie Euen so weepe you chaste doues of the Lord and you solitarie Pellicans professours of the truth take you vp this Lamentation and say how doe those loftie cities which are builded on the Lords hill the ministers of the word remaine desolate for there is none that come vnto them to buy their heauenly wares preaching of the vulgar and greatest sort is counted meere babling the glorious gifts of the spirit are as little as dreamers fits and many peraduenture in some one man haue some delight like to a strange muse wrought in a male contented minde by a consort of Musicke but what sinnes will they forsake at his request Surely as many as did Herod at the preaching of Iohn Baptist nay rather farewell friendship then welcome repentance though they like such a preacher well yet they loue their pleasures better Hereby may we of the ministerie try our owne friends and manifest the Lords followers if we meekely reprooue their follies which will beare vs in hand they loue and like vs well As for example if they be of the gentle sort tell them of their vaine expences if of the meaner tell them of their carnall minds if of the poorest tell them of their ignorance if the brauest shew them of their pride if the learnedst declare to them their vaine glorie and finally if the noblest bid them beware of despising the Gospell if they will abide these blowes and turne you the other cheeke also then account him for a Dauid or else reiect him for a Herod Oh how is the world altered from following preaching and prophesie in the purest age of the church their greatest glorie was in the ministery since that time euen in our owne memorie how would the people of the countrey flocke to follow preaching but now euen in our daies my beloued we our selues haue liued to see the preachers mocked as Elishah was the same people which once woulde seeme to care for nothing saue Christ the more are the preachers the fewer are the hearers Euen the Sabaothes of the Lorde are polluted with all manner of villanies and vanities as boldly as if the Gospels sounde had neuer beene shewed among vs. Euen the princesse of all professions I meane Diuinitie the Queene of al sciences the preaching of the worde is become the vilest in shew the poorest in practise the meanest in request and the greatest in slauerie The word of the Lord that came to loel the sonne of Pethuell That is to say which he sent or spake vnto Ioel the sonne of Pethuell In old time God spake diuers and many waies saith the Scripture Heb. 1. 1. to our fathers by the Prophets them I finde principally to be these first by vision as to Salomon 2. Chro. 1. 7. secondly by dreames as Moses saieth Deut. 1. 2. 6. and so he spake to Ioseph Mat. 1. 20. Thirdly by plaine face to face as hee did to Moses Fourthly by Angels Act. 8. 26. and lastly by secret instinct or motion of the spirit Luke 2. 27. and in this manner it is most likely the prophet Ioel receiued this prophesie Out of this we obserue this doctrine that if God send not his worde among vs we our selues euen the greatest among vs could or would not apprehend it For this cause the Scripture calleth it the word that came to Ioell meaning that then it came vnto him when he thought least of such strange euents terrible iudgements which he had giuen him in commission to denounce to his countrey men And the truth hereof may appeare by many testimonies of the word of God In that sinfull estate wherein all Israell stood in the time of Esay the prophet the Lord cried out Esay 6. 8. Whom shall I send vnto them as if there were none that would offer themselues to this busines And in the prophesie of Ieremie the Lord many times complaineth that he himselfe intended this busines earely and late morning and euening to send his prophets vnto them for their conuersion In other places where he bewaileth the destruction of his people he assigneth this for the cause The Prophets ran but I sent them not neither did they teach my ordinances So that if there be any forwardnes in the preachers and ministers that way to goe on their message before they receiue their arrand it rather destroyeth then saueth curseth then blesseth scattereth then gathereth the flocke of God togither Indeede when the Lord sendeth any he giueth them before hande the knowledge of his word so that they only which are apt and willing to teach are to be accompted the Lords ministers and no others Euen as the Lord gaue either more talents or fewer to euerie one of his seruants and we read not any called his seruant but he which had a talent at the least euen so in the ministerie where is not some sufficiencie to discharge that function I can neuer say he was of the Lords sending Therfore we must know that the great store of godly preachers and ministers of the word that abound in our daies in most corners of our countrey I would to God I could say in all were not either for desire of liuing or glorious estimation or any wordly cause aduaunced to the churches seruice but the Lord who hath indued their minds with knowledge their hearts with courage their toongs with vtterance and themselues with his spirit and word euen he aboue hath chosen them to be souldiers in his wars against Sathans kingdome and by the voice of his word like canon shot to batter downe the castles of darkenes The reasons hereof are manifest first because that mans nature in it selfe abhorreth nothing more then God his seruices Exo. 3. 11. 12 13. when Moses was called by the Lord to carie his name before Pharoh and the children of Israell how many delayes did he make and how many shifts did he inuent to exempt himselfe from this heauenly message sometime he wanted toong sometime strength and sometime authoritie now one while hee feared the king another while the people and although the Lord wrought miracles for him yet would he gladly auoide it Secondly it is apparant that when the people were in greatest extremitie and most of all felt the heauie hand of the wrath of God there was no calamitie that touched them so neerely or pressed them so deadly as this to thinke they had no Prophets left to inquire of the word of the Lord. For as a shippe in the midst of the sea tossed too
man but nowe the worlde was turned with them they being bewitched with the false Apostles for at once they had forsaken their faith towards God and their reuerence toward the preacher The diuell is subtill and knoweth very well that so long as the ministers credite raigneth his kingdome decreaseth and therefore where he cannot at the first ouerthrow the doctrine there he laboureth to bring the prophet into disgrace But hearken my beloued I beseech you a while and shut your eares against the diuels accusations If you will euer liue vnder the winges of the Gospell you must euer loue the feete of God his ministers so long as these Galathians bore this minde towardes their Apostle their faith was glorious their church was famous their liues were godly and their endes were happy but when they accounted the Lordes messenger but as a man when they thought him worthy no more then a common person although they would once haue plucked out their eies to haue done him good then followed and fell vpon them like hailestones vpon the Canaanites heresies to disquiet them diuisions to molest them ignorance to condemne them and the wrath of God to consume them Looke to it my beloued the contempt of preachers of ministers and seruants of the Lorde hath already wrought many strange effectes among vs. Those reuerend fathers of our church which haue brought vs out of Babylon as Moses and Aaron brought the Israelites out of Egypt whereof some haue sealed vp our safetie with their owne blood others haue wasted their health and wealth in defence of our religion state and profession and many yet liuing holding great places in the Church of England hauing onely for the Gospell and the Lords Ierusalem endured many strange conflictes and vnknowen troubles these I say euen by the railing libels of counterfaite and vnknowne Christians haue beene laide open to the view offoes and friends both by truthes and vntruthes if it were possible to the vtter ruine of learning extreme sorrow of many good men and euerlasting disgrace of the ministerie As Origen was woont to say Sicut omne bonum ab ecclesia prouenit sic omne malum ab ecclesia egreditur As al goodnesse commeth from the church so all euill commeth from the church so I feare that the Lorde may say to the ministerie as to Israell O Israel thy destruction is of thy selfe but in me is thy saluation The ministerie hath been lamentably diuided and for this cause euen by base persons they haue beene and are scornfully reuiled we our selues haue wrought our discredit but the Lord is our comfort The ignorance of many silly and dumbe fellowes disgraceth the learned the pride of many lofty preachers discrediteth the humble the couetousnesse of many encroching parsons ouerthroweth the liberall minded and finally the negligence of many noble and excellent men in their charges giueth a deadly discouragement to the painfull But yet these are the faultes of the persons not of the places and a personall action dieth with the person therefore my beloued pray vnto the Lord for discerning spirites that you may liue by the line of the word and not by the lines of many although we should forsake the Lord by our falles yet doe not you cast away your selues by our example Maintaine the name and credit of euery one whose ministerie the Lorde vseth in gouerning and instructing his Church stand not vpon titles for they which labour well are woorthy of double honour regarde not garments for Iustine Martyr preached Christ in the attire of a heathen philosopher looke not too much vpon their faultes for euen amongst the Apostles there wanted not diuisions esteeme them as the ministers of God which watch when you sleepe labour when you rest fast when you feast and pray for the saluation of your soules when you are sporting in pleasures Your soules then lye open to the diuell when you are growne in dislike of your pastors for if the man displeaseth we cannot like of the doctrine If our countreymen the Lords flocke can once againe ioine with the preachers and promoters of the Gospell then shall Atheisme be banished Poperie ashamed hypocrisie discouered diuisions ended and truth shall flourish out of our nation Secondly another vse we may profitably make heereof which is this that exhortation of the Apostle Philip. 2. 29. speaking of Epaphroditus a faithfull minister of God whom he sendeth vnto them Receiue him saith he therefore in the Lord with all gladnesse and make much of such we must open our houses and churches with reioycing spirits when we see the embassadours of peace comming vnto vs and account most pretiously of them who trauel with the Lords message for our good Wee reade that the Shunamite to entertaine Elishah built him a chamber that when he came that way he might visite their familie how much more ioyfull ought we to bee to entertaine the messengers of better things then Elishah brought It was a great commendation of the Iewish women that followed our Sauiour vp and downe that they ministred vnto him but most lamentable it is that in our daies the ministers and preachers haue almost as slender entertainment as Christ himselfe had among the Samaritans Their houses be too great their liuings be too large their reuenues say some clawbacks will suffice a good knight or a worshipfull gentleman and why may not a good minister be allowed as well as a good magistrate or a man of learning dwel in as faire a house as a lawyer Indeede our houses in your conceite are too great for vs and in our harts we thanke God that they are too little for you wee see many ministeries and parsonages defaced but none built many gathered but none sowed we are receiued very ioyfully of great numbers where they hope to haue any gaines by vs and their purpose being obtained then they bid a fig for the parson Oh this is the sinne of many gentlemen that they will neuer or seldome allow the fourth part of that which of dutie they owe vnto vs but will wage the customes at the lawe to giue nothing to the Lord. Who seeth not that these men woulde haue offered if they had liued among the Iewes surely I thinke burnt offerings and peace offerings should haue discontinued and the Lord must haue thought him beholding vnto them if they gaue him one for a thousand And for our ministerie and preaching I dare say it was not lesse regarded except persecution one hundred yeere a goe then now it is If gentlemen or noble men receiue their tithes the people are well contented but if the preachers take them it greeueth them deadly belike because they goe to the right owners And thus the world make much of vs our liuings are diminished our labours are neglected our presence despised They account their parishes the happiest where is no preaching ministerie no controlling of sinners no fighting with the diuell no conscience of religion O miserable times O
miserable manners they had rather goe with musicke to the gallowes then with mourning to a sermon they choose rather to goe singing to hell then weeping to heauen cursed are they which speake euill of the way of righteousnesse and say to the prophets depart from vs. The Lorde shall come with speede to render vengeance to them that receiue him not The second Sermon Vers 2. Heare this yee elders IN these wordes the Prophet declareth the second part of the description of this booke namely the subiect thereof that is the persons whom it concerneth and the wordes are thus much in effect You that are the elders and gouernors of the people heare the worde of the Lord and all you which are the inhabitants of the land of Iudea the Lords inheritance hearken you also hereunto and tell me whether you euer heard the like in your daies or in the daies of your fathers which went before you Out of these words obserue these doctrines following first that the prophets and ministers of God must call vpon the people to heare the word for you see in the entry of this prophesie the prophet crieth to the people to giue audience to his sermons And indeed this is a most necessarie obseruation to be kept as an entrance to call the peoples minds at the beginning and as a remembrance to stirre them vp in the midst and a conclusion to admonish them in the end For this cause also the prophet Isa cap. 1. vers 2. thinking that if men would not giue an eare to his sermons yet he would not want audience calleth in this sort Heare O ye heauens hearken O earth shewing that if men will be so deafe at the crie of the Lords ministers as not to lend them their eares to their preaching yet the heauens and the earth shall tremble at their word giuing obedience to their heauenly voices the dumbe creatures shal condemne such intollerable rebellion In the booke of the Apostles Act. cap. 13. ver 16. We may read when Paul and Barnabas came to Antiochia being entreated on the Saboth day to giue some words of exhortation to the people Paul standing vp and beckning with his hand called vnto them saying Men and brethren hearken The people in most places are busied in vaine speculations when the peacher is most diligent in opening the word of truth some are drousie when their hearts should be waking to heare what God wil say concerning them others are scraping in the churches with their feete superstitiously conceited when they heare but the name of Iesus mentioned and yet they wil sweare by him and make no bones at all againe others are wearie thinking euerie minute an hower till the preacher be out of the pulpit and many shew the whole congregation their backes by departing out of the church All these let the preachers call with the voice of Trumpets Heare the word of the Lord put away your vanities rouze vp your drowsines take pleasure in godlines staye your disquietnes and continue your presence in the Lords assemblies know you not that the stones you tread on the heauens you gaze on the earth you walke on and the wordes that we preach vnto you shall all come against you like witnesses and tell the Lord your disobedience therefore we often say in our sermons Heare this men and brethren The reasons of this doctrine may euidently be gathered out of the word of God and the first is the practise of the Lord himselfe Psal 81. 8. beside many other places in the scripture where the Lord calleth vpon the people before he declare his minde vnto them for audience and attention saying Heare O my people and I will speake hearken O Israell and I will testifie vnto thee What shall it auaile if we bring the toongs of angels into the congregations none or few wil lend vs their eares Although I easily graunt our perswasiōs enter as deeply into the wals of the churches as into the eares hearts of most of our hearers euen in this we are like these Israelites that if the Lord himselfe should come at one time as here he did cry Heare O my people of England yet it is much to be feared that at another time he might come and crye vnto vs Oh that my people of England would haue heard me as to them he doth in the latter ende of the Psalme Secondly another reason of this doctrine is this bicause by hearing commeth faith Rom. 10. 17. Faith is by hearing and hearing by the word of God so that if the hearing of the preachers beget faith in the hearers who shall more fitly or may more conueniently crie vnto them in their sermon time to heare this point of faith diligently to marke this doctrine carefully to lay vp this lesson aduisedly and remember this exhortation continually then the preachers themselues which are the midwiues of their faith Oh how wonderfully doth this doctrine condemne this faithlesse age wherein we liue for if faith come by hearing and hearing by the word of God whence haue they their faith that come so seldome to our sermons Doth not this argue forcibly that their faith is as litle as their hearing therefore saluation is as little as their faith How wil they answer this argument now before men and afterward before the sonne of God that they which heare not beleeue not they which beleeue not are cōdemned alreadie and they which are in such damnable estate it is not their reuenues of thousands their pallaces and houses of glorie the garments of brauerie their prouision of delicates their gentle friends their soft beds their hungry hounds their rauening haukes their pampered horses and their retinues of seruants that can fray the deuill from taking away their soules Is not this pitie that such glorious gentlemen should be cast away for not hearing a seely preachers sermons being otherwise learned in the toongs skilfull in the artes excellent in the lawes eloquent in speeches valorous in war and comely in stature Surely I beleeue Paul was deceiued when he said Faith came by hearing and hearing by the word of God What an impudent blasphemie were this to say that Ladies and gentlewomen on whose faces the sunne is not good inough to looke whose legges must not walke on the ground but either keepe aloft in their bowers or take the ayer in their coaches whose hands must touch nothing but either chaines of pearle cloath of golde embrodered and fine needle wrought garments that these beautifull stars I say should come downe from their nicenes and learne faith at the mouth of preachers Yet farther must our gallant youthes and proper seruing then whose heads are hanged with haire as if they would fright away both Christ and his ministers from the place where they stand come frō the tauerns from gaming houses from the play houses frō the Ale houses from the whoore houses and from al their disports to be ratled vp
preachers the carnall and time seruing professours these shall goe to the place from whence they came there to be tormented world without end It is not cold and idle hearing that maketh vs the people of God but a sincere and diligent frequenting the place where his person dwelleth We must not be contented to be the Lords retayners but we must sue to be made his houshold seruants The Apostle Peter in his first epistle cap. 2. ver 5. calleth vs all that professe the Lord Iesus a spirituall priesthood now this was the office in old time of a priest euery day to appeare at the altar and their very lodging was in the Temple therefore must we come often to the Lords house and desire to dwell in his tabernacle that we may euermore heare and speake his worde The second reason of this doctrine is taken from the continuall course of the Iudgements of God All Egypt was plagued because they heard not the worde of God euen their king lost his eldest sonne and afterwarde he himselfe for the same follie was drowned and swallowed vp of the sea The noble man which would not beleeue and harken to the voice of the prophet when he told him of the great and sudden cheapnes of corne answered him that it was impossible except the windowes of heauen shoulde bee opened but he sawe it accomplished and for his infidelitie was troden to death by the people Reade the whole booke of God and you shal euery where plainly perceiue that for disobedience to God his worde and contempt of his messengers Kings haue been deposed and Queenes haue beene punished Lords Ladies Magistrates and subiectes old men and children haue tasted of the deadly cup of the Lords heauie wrath Lay vp this in your harts my bowels in the Lorde happy are they which auoide danger by the fals of other men Oh that the teares of our countrymen couldewash away the guilt of this sinne for our score is growne so great by our long continued credit that we haue made no conscience to pay the Lord his owne and we haue vrgent cause to consider and also to feare least the Lord sue the extremitie of the lawe vpon vs and neuer spare till we haue paide the vttermost farthing and felt the full weight of his hande and spent euery drop of bloud in soule and body for the notorious contempt of his most glorious Gospel There is no sacrifice to be compared to the hearing of the Lords worde and therefore the neglect thereof in whomsoeuer is most fearefull most deadly most damnable The vses which offer themselues vnto vs out of this doctrine are these first that the ancient and great men must suffer the words of the Lords ministers patiently and for this cause the Apostle willeth vs Tit. 2. 2. To exhort the elders to sobernesse and faith There be two things which should shine as bright in age and authoritie as the eies do in the heads of strong yoong men that see and be seene of others and yet see not themselues euen so ought sobrietie and faith to offer themselues vnto the view of all persons where the graie haires appeere like the buddes of an almond tree whereby the aged may see and correct the follies of youth and yoong men may see their example to be drawne in loue with their liues but they themselues ought not to be proud for that honour which the Lord hath bestowed vpon them Oh how vnhappie is that time when olde men and great men are as wanton as children and as faithles as those which neuer knewe God Wo bee to that lande whose Prince is a childe saith Salomon Meaning that the whole countrey is distressed where the gouerners thereof haue as little stay as children or as little faith as children In our daies if the Lords ministers which keepe the soules of our countrymen shall in meekenesse admonish old men they tell them they are but boyes to themselues and they knew what religion was before they were borne not knowing their antiquitie cannot preiudice the spirite of the Lord or not considering what our sauiour saide to the labourers in the vineyard They which were first shall be last and they which were last shall bee first Others thinke that if they beare an office in the common wealth no man may dare to counsell them in the Lorde they themselues thinke they are iniured and their friends thinke they are disgraced if the word of exhortation passe vpon them shall I say they being a gentleman well descended well instructed of so many hundred poundes reuenues bee in as much slauerie to this preaching as the poore artificer But vnto these we may answere that if their natures or offices exempt them from sermons they also exempt them from saluation For it pleased God through the foolishnes of preaching to saue them that beleeue What is a King better then a farmer a noble man better then an artificer a gentleman better then a plowman and a magistrate better then a subiect without true religion and obedience to the gospel Surely nothing for now whether had you rather bee poore Iacob bowing to the earth alone or rich Esau attended with fowre hundred men whether had you rather bee Pharaoh or Moses Ieroboam or the prophet Ziakijah or Ieremie the rich man or Lazarus Pilate or Christ Herod or Iohn Baptist the Apostles or the high Priests stagger not heereat but shew your consciences whether of these you woulde be you cannot bee both therefore choose one The way to heauen is narrowe and we being clothed with our owne conceites can neuer enter in there is too little roome for both we cannot beare the yoke of Christ and the worlde at one time the least of both requireth a whole man Therefore you my beloued fathers beare with the voice of vs your yoongers for when we exhort you it is not done in our name but in his who is the ancient of daies elder then the oldest wiser then the wisest stronger then the strongest and yoonger then the yoongest who is euery day borne in his members It is not vs but him that you heare who knoweth your harts seeth your liues and shall condemne your incredulitie The Lord told the rebellious Israelites when they refused Moses and Aaron that it was not against them but him that they had murmured and refused so it is not our youth it is not our frailtie it is not our weaknes that you blame for if wee were not ministers you woulde loue vs the better for it but it is against the Lorde that you striue Oh staie your toongs before they go too farre God which dasheth in peeces yoong infants careth not for your gray haires your swordes auaile not against him neither can your reuenues redeeme your soules Secondly we may make this one vse of this That forsomuch as the Elders and Magistrates must aboue others vse the hearing of the worde of God what is their estate
more desperate in their sinnes then the godly be resolute in their holinesse Let vs neuer be ashamed of the power of God although in aduauncing there of we detract somewhat from the noble enterprises of men Let vs giue vnto the instruments that which is theirs and vnto God that which is his let vs not glory in our shame but be ashamed of our sinnes and with the three children at Babylon against princes and potentates euen with the hazarde of our liues witnesse the power of God that they may be ashamed of their doings Another doctrine which we may obserue out of these words wherein the fathers are so seuerally commanded to shew their children the works of God is this That we must euermore bee carefull what we commit to posteritie if the credit of men must bee regarded what they vtter one to another one of another while they are liuing togither whē as the truth may be proued and the lie may be conuinced much more must they be carefull what they deliuer to posteritie as it were in their last testament lying on their death-bed that so the liues which they haue lead may be commended for their fidelitie or the soules which they haue expired must bee condemned for their iniquitie Of this matter there is a famous historie in Ios 22. 10 11 12. verses and so foorth to the ende of the chapter when as Israell was planted in Canaan hauing long before by Moses receiued a commaundement that they should make no altars nor assemblies of worship in all their land but where the Lord gaue them commandement so to doe The Rubenites the Gadites and the halfe tribe of Manasseh being seated on this side Iordan in the land of Sihon and Og contrarie to this commaundement as it seemed builded an altar Ioshua being yet aliue This good man with all the Ancients of Israell fearing this mischiefe doubting if they put vp this contempt al religion would soon be forgotten in short time in another age the sacred deitie would be idolatrously denied first they determined a warre against them but after better cōsultation they sent Phinehas ten princes of Israel in ambassage vnto thē to know the cause why they built that altar they answered that they built this altar for a patterne of that other which was in Shiloh least in time to come all that generation being dead their children should be denied to be of the Lords flocke and therefore to haue no portion nor part in Israell and therefore was this altar not built for sacrifice nor for burnt offerings but should be a witnesse to their posteritie that although they were possessed of the lande beyonde Iordan yet they were of Israels seede God his inheritance Which answere satisfied the messengers being declared to their brethrē pacified Israell Heere may you see on both sides an honorable care for the children vnborne Israel would not permit another sacrificing altar least posteritie shoulde be drawne from God and Ruben woulde yet make an altar least their children shoulde be reiected out of the Lordes couenant Israell aduentured his labour to saue his progenie and Ruben offered his life to saue his posteritie Would God our Israel were as iealous of their children and that our brethren were as carefull of their profession then should not so manie presidents of euill like Ieroboams sinnes and Balaams counsell be suffered to stande and offered to other ages Then shoulde not houses of sinne be erected as Theaters of play-houses which gaine more persons to the diuel then the churches can soules to the Lorde Then shoulde it not be saide That the fathers haue eaten sowre grapes and the childrens teeth are set on edge Then should the arguments of Papists and other idolators be easilie answered when they obiect as Laban did that they worship their fathers Gods and followe the follies of their predecessours The longer a sicknesse groweth it waxeth more incurable and the longer our wickednes standeth and the farther we suffer our vices to stretch they waxe the more vnrecouerable insomuch as in other ages they will sweare by idols violate Sabbaoths rent in sunder religion make no conscience of haeresie and embrace atheisme by law and arguments because we haue sported our liues in this manner of vanities But remember as Balaams curse was renewed vpon him fourteene hundred yeeres after he was dead bicause other followed his sin so shall our bodies soules be condemned to more intollerable torments bicause the loosenes of our liues will breed the losse of them that come heereafter And this doctrine hath good reason to establish the same out of the worde of God first bicause there is not any monument so lasciuious or opinion so wicked or worke so abhominable but some if not many will embrace the same the which thing the Apostle Peter in his second Epistle second chapter first and second verses declareth vnto vs. Wherby we may obserue the dangerous condition of men which wil submit themselues vnto euery kind of diuelish slauerie rather then to godlines we reade in the Scriptures that so soone as Core and his companie inurmured that three hundred families followed his ill example We read of an Egyptian in the Actes of the Apostles and one Theudas who by their rebellion drewe great multitudes to finall perdition We haue learned by ecclesiasticall stories that the impietie of Simon Magus who woulde be worshipped as God had ten thousandes of fauorites that the apostasie of Iulian drew infinite companies to hel and for poperie which is a corruption of all religion what nation in this west ende of the worlde receiued not the same euen as once all the easterne countries were generally infected with Arrianisme and after they were reclaimed from that they embraced the errors of Nestorius and Eutyches But Peter saith the damnation of such persons sleepeth not but was prepared long ago as we may see by those lamentable examples of the easterne churches which for the most part are either subiect to the barbarous Turke or else the slaues of some heathen prince or other where remaine not so much as the stones of their temples much lesse the remembrance of any religion and the Lord grant that the like iudgement fall not vpon the west Another reason of this doctrine may be this that if there haue beene any fault in the fathers it may be amended in the children and this the worde of God maketh Psalm 78. 8. 9. it is most dangerous to corrupt the posteritie for it is like to the poison put into meate before men shall eate thereof we must alwaies studie to leaue the worship of God purer to them which succeede vs then we founde it And therefore we must greatly regarde if we haue at anie time gone awry from the marke that we charge our children to beware thereof for as their sinnes are accounted our sinnes bicause we reclaimed them not so their righteousnes shall be accounted ours if
these drunkards when they were awaked what they should do not go to their feastes againe or to the vomits againe or to the tauerns or to the ale-houses or to their mirth but he biddeth them go to the house of mourning Weepe saith the prophet and howle that is as if he had said lay away your pleasures and banish all euill companions drinke vp your teares as wine and eate your sorrowes as bread for a sudden calamitie is come vpon you the meate that is in your hand shall not come into your belly and your mouths shall be weaned from sucking and swilling in of strong drinke From hence when the prophet biddeth them to weepe I might note vnto you the nature or rather an inseparable companion of true repentance which is a mournfull heart and a weeping countenance which doth not onely sorrow for the fault but as it were wash away the sinnes of the soule for the teares which we weepe in this life do shew our vncleannes which if they were able they would cleanse away Teares are said to be the blood of the soule because they proceede of a wounded and sorrowfull spirit and therefore let not desperate ruffians and carnall persons thinke that the sighes and groanes and wishes of their hard hearts can goe for payment in the Lords presence or that the bare misliking and leauing of their old sinnes is true repentance for as the wound cannot be healed but the partie shall be payned so the life cannot be amended except teares or true sorrow be expressed But I will come nearer to my purpose for I cannot stande on euery worde and therefore I will onely note that which is fittest and of greatest necessitie The seuenth Sermon IN the next place he biddeth them to howle which is an action properly belonging to wolues and is metaphorically applied vnto these drunkards for they are both deuourers the one of lambes the other of corne both are beastes the one in nature the other in likenes and seeing they haue reioised like beasts now also he biddeth them to lament like beasts And therefore seeing I seldome find this word Howle but it is applied vnto beasts or wicked men I therefore note hereby that the vngodly comming into aduersitie are like to the brutish and vnreasonable creatures They sorrow without hope they weepe without comfort they howle without praier and they haue their wits and their ease taken away at once if they be merry it is for their wealth if they be heauy it is for their want So that then we may say iustly of them as Paule said of some Ephesians they are beasts in the likenes of men the prophet Dauid telleth vs Psal 49. 20. That man being in honour continueth not but becommeth like beastes that perish The wicked being in honour are inconstantly seated that serueth for their glorie but they are like the beasts that perish that sheweth their miserie in prosperitie they are vncertaine in their aduersitie they are vnhappie when they are lifted vp they will be more then men but when they are thrust downe they are founde equall to beasts The prophet Isay cap. 16. ver 7. prophesying the destruction of Moab because of their pride arrogancie indignation and lyes telleth them as this Ioell doth that Moab shall howle vnto Moab and euery one shall howle for the foundation of Kirhareseth shall yee morne and yet they shall be striken Will a man spare a woulfe although he cry bitterly No no for he knoweth he will rauen againe so God will not spare the wicked although they howle mournfully for he knoweth they will sinne againe Looke vpon this you desperate wicked persons and wretched bondslaues of Sathan heere may you see what you will do when the Lords hand is vpon you will you then turne vnto him when hee is turned from you or will you then remember him when your owne memorie is remooued thinke you then to haue power to praie or any hearts to hope in Christ when your reason and heart is taken from you thinke vpon it I beseech you before hande for else you vndoe your owne soules insomuch as when the water floudes of trouble come vpon you as the iust vengeance for your liues then you be filled with easelesse yelling beastly howling vnmercifull suffering intollerable complaining and no manner of relieuing then shall you finde that they which refuse knowledge instruction and correction in mercy shall feele the same in iudgement and you shall wish that you had endured any torment to be released of your present desperation The reasons heere of are plaine first because they cannot vnderstande iudgement Prou. 28. 5. If they bee crossed in their affaires and cast downe in their liues they know not that then they are arraigned before the iudgement seate of God which maketh them as farre without all naturall reason as they were before without all spirituall religion Dauid saide of them that the Lordes iudgements are farre aboue the sight of the wicked and therefore saith hee doe they defie all their enimies alas seelie soules they thinke that other mens harmes doe not warne them and that the Lord will neuer call them to account for their follies They imagine if they please themselues they displease not God and thinke if the hardest fall vpon them that euer can come yet their estate is better then other mens But my beloued saue your soules I beseech you out of Sathans clawes he draweth you on with deceitfull perswasions telling you that in aduersitie you shall be like other men in the meane season your eies are blinded that you cannot see howe heauie the iudgements of God lie vpon you purposing to take you at aduantage in extremitie that in sicknes he will make you raging in famine he will bring you to blasphemie in warres he will make your desperation that which is worst of al in death hee will bring you to endlesse condemnation Therefore thinke I beseech you with your selues and reioice not like beastes and then shal you mourne like beastes learne the course and causes of the Lordes iudgements that you may neuer feele the want of a peaceable and bolde conscience Another reason is this bicause this is onely the prerogatiue of the Lordes children in aduersitie to keepe their soules by patience Luk. 21. 19. Rom. 5. 3. and therefore the Lord will not giue his childrens meate vnto dogges nor yet cast such a pearle before such swine Where there is a dissimilitude of ioy there is also a dissimilitude of sorrow but betwixt the good and bad there is no likenes of their mirth and therefore there shall be no likenes of their woe they are proud when we are poore they are many when we are fewe they are merrie when we are sorrie they are glorious when we seeme comfortlesse and therefore when we are relecued they are distressed God is our comfort but it is their comfort if there were no God the diuell is our enimie but their
deadly warre disquieteth them then are they heauie then onely are they sorrowfull Reu. 18. 9 10 11. Luc. 17. 27. Hose 7. 14. They account it a speciall madnesse to mourne for the affliction of Ioseph that is to weepe for their owne sinnes for the persecution of the Lords flocke for the decrease of the faithfull and contempt of the Gospell also they thinke it a meere follie for men to reioice at the hearing of a sermon or the reproouing of sinne or the planting of a preaching minister and the remoouing of a cypher or the establishing of religion But let them knowe it is a thing accursed to reioice for vanitie and not for godlinesse to weepe more for the losse of a father or the want of bread or the feeling of sicknesse then for the famine of God his worde or the death of a faithfull man The reasons for confirmation hereof may be these because onely in these temporall and worldly things they place the rest of their soules Luc. 15. 19. The rich man hauing new builded his barnes reaped his corne and filled his storehouses biddeth his soule to take her ease for he had store ynough for many yeeres we maruell then that the losse of these things goeth so neere them when with them they loose the very health of their soules What shall wee say to the greedy cormorants which to gather wealth as this man did reposing therein the hope of their health while vnlawfully they would saue their soules vnrighteously they condemne them Oh let them also beware which being the outwarde professors of the Gospell yet neuer make an ende to encroach more liuing I cannot say they hope to be saued by them but I may be bolde to say that they much distaine the glorie of God while they aduaunce their names they endanger their soules Secondly another reason is because the loue of these carnall commodities banisheth away the loue of God 1. Ioh. 2. 16. How shal men which haue denied God and are become idolaters as all worldly men are Ephes 5. 5. care for any religion or reioice for any goodnesse yea rather lament it or how shall they lament any euill but rather reioyce in it because they are voide of all goodnesse themselues A godly father saide of them in this sort that they account that euill which doth not make them euill as famines sicknesse and other calamities but for swearing drunkennes whooredome and other vices they call them not euils They are not ashamed while they praise good things themselues to be euill and they thinke it a greater disgrace to haue a ragged towne a thatched house an vnhansome legge or a poore estate then to haue an ill life This said hee long agoe and now with teares I may say it againe that men in our times through the want of religion which through abundance they haue loathed and rebellion they haue vomited vp feare no God but the enimy loue no knowledge but their law euidence and they care for no health but bodily medicines and thus they weepe when they should reioice and reioice when they should weepe The vses which arise from this doctrine are these First that these carnall mindes and men shall neuer be eased in their carnall sorrowes or comforted in their worldly comforts Therefore Iames said cap. 4. 2 3. Ye lust and haue not ye enuie and haue indignation and cannot obtaine you fight and warre and get nothing be cause you aske not you aske and receiue not bicause you aske amisse that you might consume it on your lustes Wherein the heauenly Apostle hath set out to the full the nature of al worldly wishers carnal criers wherin these things I be seech you to obserue most diligently First that this is the nature of wicked mē in their praiers being in distresse that they enuie and haue indignation euen at God himselfe thinking that he doth them great iniurie thus to disquiet their ease and to trouble them with want Oh fearefull condition of wicked men that their very praiers are nothing else but murmuring against the Almightie Secondly he noteth the verie cause why the wicked craue any thing at the hand of their creator that saith he they might bestow it on their lustes And surely I am much afraid that the feigned praiers of a great number in this time of dearth and famine haue had the like inward motion which is the cause that the Lord regardeth not our praiers and remooueth not his iudgements Thinke not therefore that euer your cries for corne for bread for meate for plentie for cheapnes and for comfort shall take any effect although you fill the aire with your outcries or the earth with your teares vntill your carnall mindes be banished your enuying spirits be humbled your vniust and vnlawfull suites be silenced yea vntill you haue more regard to your soules then to your bodies to the Gospell then to the corne fields and to the glorie of God aboue wife or children life or saluation Another vse belonging to this doctrine our Sauiour giueth Mat. 6. 31. 32. Take no thought saith he what you shal eat or what you shall drinke or wherwithal you shal be cloathed for after these things seek the Gentiles your heauenly father knoweth that you haue neede of those things but seeke you first the kingdome of God and the righteousnes thereof and all these things shal be ministred vnto you Here may we learne the medicine for our sicknes the supply of our want the comfort of our distresse who shall bid vs mourn because we haue no meate Indeed it is to be lamented yet Christ saith take no thought for it thou art a poore man so was he thou hast a familie so had he thou liuest by thy labour so did he thou liuest in times of scarsitie so did he Then he speaketh by experience sorrow not for thy want he was the sonne of God so art thou it was his meate to do his fathers will so let it be thine Say not as the woman did to Eliah we will eate this and then die but rather we will endure this and then die The Gospell is my meate the sonne of God is my cloathing and the kingdome of heauen is my inheritance shall I lust after other meate or desire a woollen garment and wish for a worldly inheritance No no heauen is all things there is for me and my children Christ is all things he will cloath me and my children and the Gospell is all things it shall feed me and my family my soule shall eate my body my body shall not deuoure my soule Thus let vs comfort the poore members of Christ that want and encourage one another in distresse against distrust let vs weep with them that weepe and mourne with them that mourne that we may reioice with them that shall reioice in the kingdome of heauen For it shal be pulled from your mouth Hauing awaked these persons by calling and troubled them
hearers The reasons of this doctrine are these bicause in that time the Lorde sheweth himselfe to be an enimie Lamen 2. 5 8. And who is he that will not sorrow knowing that the Lorde is his enimie would he euer fall out so farre with his owne people as to suffer his owne glorie to bee darkened were it not bicause he hath kindled his wrath against them euen as a Lorde in this worlde taketh from his seruant his office his cognisance and in the end turneth him out of his dores bicause he hath displeased him so dealeth the Lorde with vs when he maketh men colde in his seruice and wearie of his Gospell O my beloued nowe I feare is the Lord an enimie vnto vs when hee suffereth such abuses and abusers of his goodnes to liue among vs. Poperie beginneth againe to growe ioyfully out of the earth in the Lordes fieldes Atheisme priuily stretcheth his selfe as the Iuie doth about the Oke the ministerie groweth careles the people waxeth wanton the rich men are idle and the poore men are ignorant of the Lords seruice Are not these sufficient tokens that the Lord beginneth to be an enimie vnto England O mourne therefore as a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husbande of her youth See we not how the worlde winneth vpon the possessions of the church if we haue a vnitie then bringeth he in securitie if there be diuisions then brocheth hee manie blasphemous heresies if we agree among our selues he maketh the world to hate vs if we please the worlde our own brethren suspect vs if we haue great gifts then are we enuied if we haue but smal gifts then are we despised and thus with nothing are all men pleased the Lords busines is still deferred Surely this will make the Lord fall out with vs be our enimie for euerie one thinketh that his owne dislike is reason enough to be absent from the Lords presence And if there be anie that loue the Lorde Iesus let them before hande sorrow that his second comming shall finde no faith on the earth Let vs therefore cast downe our selues as the Apostle wisheth vs Iam. 4. 9. Endure afflictions and weepe and sorrow let your laughter be turned into heauines and your ioy into mourning nowe is the time as Ieremie said that we giue glorie to the Lorde before he bring darknes or euer our feete stumble in the darke mountaines Let vs beholde as in a watch towre this enimie of the church marching neere at hande readie to fight against our saluation to poison our faith to abolish the Scriptures to silence the preachers to distract the people and to roote vp againe that foundation which the Lorde hath builded This let both princes and people clergie and temporaltie lament with all speede and without all ceasing that the bane of Religion is alreadie receiued and the foundation of darkenes is alreadie laide the workemen of iniquitie are building vpon it we cannot hinder but we will pray against it we cannot roote it vp but we wil set the fire of the Lords word to burne it we cannot deface it yet we will lament it Mourne O yee elders that your posteritie shall be thus endangered that in your daies you haue seene the Lorde a friende and an enimie to vs that you haue suffered the decay of that which all the worlde can neuer builde that you haue so laboured to builde your owne houses and names and haue rooted vp the walles of the church Weepe O yoong men for your selues and for your soules for your liues shall smart for your pleasures and I am afraide that the bloude of your harts must clense the wickednes of your times Crie out O children that you are deputed to haue but the reuersions of the truth which your elders deuoured and leaue you nothing but pay those debtes which they owe for their iniquities The meate offeringe All the offerings which were sacrificed in the olde lawe did betoken Christ to be sacrificed for vs vnto the which there was to be added as the Lorde commanded Numb 15. 4 5 6. a meate offering of fine meale and oyle and a drinke offering of wine without which there was no offering no sacrifice so that in this place when he saith the meat offering and drinke offering are cut off from the house of God he meaneth by one part the whole worship of God to be intermitted Frō whence we may note this that God hath so great regard to punish sinne that rather then it shall escape scot free he will discontinue his owne worship More plainly men know that so long as they keepe the worship of God and the pure outward profession of true religion no great nor generall change of state or iudgement of God shal ouerturne them therefore the Lorde will take away his worde his worship his truth from among them which are the charets of Israel and the garde of the church that he may more freely take vengeance of our sinnes Thus may we read he dealt with Israell Psal 78. 60. Lam. 2. 16. Now consider I beseech you what refuge can we haue against the Lorde or what shield to couer our sinnes why you will saie the Lords mercie but how if mercie haue beene offered and be refused and so the date thereof for our good be expired Yet you will saie his mercie endureth for euer but I may answere you that hee so little regardeth mercy to men and seruice to himselfe at sometimes that he taketh away all signe of his fauour all tokens of his presence all comfort of his word and commoditie by his worship and so let vs feare in England least we be so serued and rather ruled and least the time come that we may say heere stood a church there was the Gospell preached once we might safely professe the word of God but now we are excluded The reasons of this may be these first because the people so long as they say the temple of the Lord the Gospell of the Lorde so long they are obstinate in their sinnes and wilfull in all manner of wickednesse Iere. 7. 4 3. And for this cause to take away their shroude that they might cast away their vaine confidence the Lorde spareth not his owne worship to shew vnto vs that he also will not spare our liues This might be vrged to the vttermost for these our times wherein there are few that will crie the temple or the Gospell but amongst those few which vrge the bare name of religion and reformation how many are there that liue riotously and walke licentiously pitifully tronbling the world with their lustes and the church of God with their workes but let vs beware least both they and others cannot say the temple but that we had religion in England Secondly another reason may be this because we take not the true course and lawfull way to keepe the worship of God among vs. Rom. 9. 32. The Iewes saith the Apostle
for other for their cause that is for our peoples cause are we tormēted Againe how fearful are those places to be considered where it may bee saide as it was of Rachels children that preachers and good pastors were and are not you shall haue some gentleman or ruffian or carnall companion reioicing that he was the meanes to sende their priest packing and to depriue their pastor of his liuing So did Rabsakeh bragge of his crueltie as these wicked and damnable wretches of their impietie they haue brought the bloude of the Lordes prophets vpon their owne heades and the heade of their neighbours and let them assure themselues it will be reuenged Another reason of this doctrine may be this bicause if there be any perplexitie God doth want his honour and then the ministers are filled with danger If men be sicke for vs they send whereby contagion we are infected if men be imprisoned they come not at vs if they be souldiers they serue the campe and not the Lorde so that as Augustine saide they cannot be the ouerthrowers of a citie except first they ouerthrow all ciuilitie So that when the Lord is abridged of his right we must not accoūt it strange to be abridged of our libertie we are not better then our fathers yea then our Sauiour who being best of al was taken before his disciples as wee must bee before our flocke The vses which come from this doctrine are these first that wee thinke not that they alone which beare the place of God before his people to inform them in the way of godlines shal liue in this danger or that those poople are most miserable which endure most aduersities but as the prophet speaketh Ier. 25. 29. If God plague the citie or person by whom his name is called vpon howe shall other men thinke to goe free nay rather then that should be so his sword saith the prophet shal destroy al the inhabitants of the earth Thinke not that your estate who are gentlemen or rich men or secular men or peraduenture carnall men for all this is better then the spirituall mans calling if it go not well with vs how can it euer long continue well with you no verilie no more then when the captaine wanteth his pay the souldiers are well satisfied Looke vpon the whole course of the world you shal find them to be most wretched that are most secure most damnable that liue in smallest danger Most wicked Iulianistes scoffe at the ministerie bicause they are contemned of the greater sort and they say they must laie load on the cleargie bicause they teach other men to be patient but if this were a good reason then might seruants set their masters to labour bicause they exhort them to diligence Howe vniust is it that wee which are borne to miserie for the peoples sake for the Lordes sake shoulde haue our miserie to bee encreased as it were by our owne children whom wee haue fostered in the church Go on you scoffers and most accursed Atheists when we are in sorrow yee liue in ioy when wee are reuiled you are regarded when we are impouerished you are enriched and therefore when we are in danger you shall be in damnation Another vse which we must make heereof is this that we must not auoide the ministerie bicause it is full of danger no more then men auoide the sea bicause it is full of rockes or else abandon husbandrie bicause it is full of labour The crowne of a good minister is inestimable as Paul sheweth 2. Timoth. 4. 8. From hence foorth there is laide vp for mee a crowne of righteousnesse which the Lorde the iust iudge will giue vnto me If men will weare and winne this crowne they must first fight that good fight which the Apostle speaketh of in the former verses So that nowe let vs reason our case in this manner wee are of all men most miserable our bodies are weake our studies are tedious our labours are greeuous our liues are odious our welfare is dangerous and before all wee goe to the wall Who would bee a minister to endure all these Nobles will scorne him the gentrie will abase him rich men will enuie him and the poore must speake against them he must eate their leauings he must weare that they refuse he must abide that which they offer and hee must mourne when they are ioyfull Oh be not discouraged but come into the Lords haruest speedily thy health shall be encreased thy paines shall be well paied thy pouertie shall be enriched and thy reprochfull ignominie shall be turned into crowns of glorie thy teares shall be sweeter then wine thy want shall be more tolerable then wealth thy labour shall bee more easie then pleasure and thy death shall be more acceptable then life feare not to take vpon thee a ministers calling euill words are but winde euill men are but chaffe euill wealth is but rust euill ioy is but sinne and another calling is but base Christ triumpheth in thee 2. Cor. 2. 14. thou shalt reioice in thy flocke 1. Thess 2. 19. and the world shall be subdued by thy word Ierem. 1. 19 20. the actes of God shall be in our mouth and a two edged sworde in our handes to pronounce sentence against kings and iudgement against angels The tenth Sermon Vers 10. The field is wasted the land mourneth for the corne is destroyed the new wine is dried vp and the oyle is decayed NOw the prophet sheweth the cause of that doctrine in the former verse why the worship of God was laide waste because the field is wasted and the land mourneth that it is barren the corne wine and oyle are all destroied The which thing being so out of this verse we first of all note that God giueth vs these fruites of the earth to worship his maiestie therewithall Psal 67. 6 7. So that men must turne themselues and looke vpon all the creatures of God which will tell them to their face they must serue God the better for them what groweth in thy field which singeth not this song the naturall herbe the planted corne grasse growing foode for cattell and all other things teach vs more earnestly to serue the Lorde And for this cause ought we onely to possesse them for assuredly if men doe couet after much lande and many fieldes and plant much corne and many fruites onely that themselues may haue much to serue them being aliue and leaue much for their children being dead they are those that the Lorde threateneth a woe vnto by the prophet They haue not these things for the Lorde but these things haue seised on their harts for the diuell vse therefore thy wealth not to liue in pleasure but in religion not in pride but in godlinesse not in honour of men but in the crosse of Christ And as an olde man hath his staffe to stay him from falling because he is weake so doe thou possesse those to
before the Lord when wee euer meete againe about the like occasion and this I would haue practised both in priuate and publike humiliation The reasons that may mooue vs vnto this dutie to be throughly humbled are these first because the Lorde will not looke on our aduersitie without this perfect and absolute contrition Isa 58. 3. for he then especially looketh to the inwarde disposition of euery soule to see who they be which tremble at his word and iudgements and they which then will not nor cannot there is little hope of grace and goodnesse in them The heathen king of Niniueh and all his subiects had that conscience when the Lord sounded their destruction by the prophet Ionah Ahab mourned when he heard the words of Elijah the prophet and when God speaketh to the Assyrians and Moabites he biddeth them come downe into the dust and ashes to lament their miseries Alas why doe I rehearse either precepts or examples to mooue men vnto this which they would not doe for if their owne liues and bloud and soules will not prouoke them hereunto other mens waies will not perswade them yet let them thus consider that it will greeue them more to loose this their counterfeite humilitie as the Iewes doe in the forenamed place when they shall say we fasted we praied we trauelled and we desired to iustifie our soules and yet their fast shall be as vanitie their praier abhomination and their comming into the Lords presence like his which had no wedding garment and therefore was hee and so shall they bee cast into vtter darknesse Another reason is this because that those iudgements which call for this humiliation must teach vs righteousnesse Esa 26. 9. and so we encrease in righteousnesse as we exceede in humilitie and for this cause we must know that the more religion a man hath the more humble he is and the more hee saith hee encreaseth in goodnesse the more he must studie to shew it outwardly As for those which thinke they serue God well enough when they neither pray with their toongs nor bende with their knees nor vncouer their heads nor mooue out of their houses I leaue them to their fancies let euery beast bird of the aire confute their fancies for the Lord which hath assigned euery member his office will haue euery one to execute it himselfe The vses which offer themselues by the consideration of this point are these seeing we must bee throughly humbled therefore let vs auoide all manner of idlenesse in this worship of God Iam. 2. 19. when we are once perswaded of this point we shall not onely lende an eare to this businesse but thinke all time too little that we spend not herein The poore saintes of God in that forenamed place crie in the night watches as these priestes which lay all night in lamentation and so when the feare of the Lords wrath and the conscience of our owne dangers doe once meete together then there is not any thing that will bee so acceptable to vs as praier This feare will driue from vs our sleepe as the windes driue away the cloudes the sicke man will sit vp the olde man will holde vp his hands the weake man will stand for his life the woman will weepe without ceasing and euery one so touched will auoide all worldly actions then will or rather then must the rich man forsake his counting house the farmer leaue his plough the seruant auoide his rest the labourer neglect his meate and the drowsie person hold vp his eies All the Apostles slept till the high priestes seruants came to take our Sauiour but then they awaked fled for their liues but why did they not wake before in praier that thē they might haue slept without danger oh let vs therefore come both great small to appeere in the Lords presence with al diligence let not any long iourney any lack of prouision any loue of ease any losse of health make vs idle Rise early to praier watch late to lament sleepe little that thou maist spende the more time to gaine thy soules health In the day we labour for our bodies in the night let vs labour for our soules My soule saith Dauid thinketh on thee in the night watches and so let our soules thinke on the Lord when other thinke on their rest and their pleasure Another vse which commeth by this consideration is this that seeing we must be throughly humbled or not at all let vs take for our example the paterne of them that mourne for the dead as the prophet exhorteth Ierem. 6. 26. How many are the teares of them which loose their louing husbands their tender children and their loyal friendes Iacob for feare of this said before hand it woulde make his hoare head goe downe into the graue But so slight is the mourning of many among vs that they neither wette their cheekes for their sinnes nor yet would willingly depart with this life for the enioying of the life to come Surely this is woorthy to be noted in them which earnestly lament the dead that they desire to be with them so let vs desire to be free of this feare of death and sinne with the death of our sinnes and liues let vs so bitterly bewaile our time as we may be most willing to change our life for no other cause then to cease from sinne The Israelites bewailed Moses thirtie daies together and let vs with great and long continuance mourne not for Moses who is in heauen but for our selues who would be in heauen When Naomy bid her daughters Ruth and Orpah goe backe into Moab they wept at her words if they were so vnwilling to liue in Moab and to depart with Naomi why are not wee as vnwilling to liue in this world and to depart with Christ seeing he is our head and we his members we must goe to him and he may not come to vs let vs therefore by his example endure many sorrowes and great dangers that we may be more willing to leaue this life The theefe inclosed in the prison ceaseth from stealing and when wee are closed in iaile of many griefes and clogged with the irons of many crosses then let vs know that we cease from many externall and internall abhominations Yee ministers of my God In this that hee calleth the priestes which serued at the altar the ministers of God he thereby giueth vs to vnderstand whose possession are the ministers namely and onely the Lords Num. 3. 12. The Lord challengeth the tribe of Leui to himselfe to be his peculiar and royall priesthood and the Apostle willeth the Corinthians that they should so thinke of him as of the minister of God and disposer of the secrets of his kingdome and therefore writing to the Galathians hee telleth them hee is not by man nor by the will of man but of God Once in steede of the appointed ministerie were the first borne of euery familie
and they sacrificed and none else but they altered and it came to one tribe and they also were abrogated and so it came to men approoued in the church who are deemed the speciall portion of the Lord in this world And surely if the seruants of Salomon were blessed that hearde his wisedome and waited in his court they are much more blessed which waite in the Lords house and heare and see the secrets of the kingdome of heauen It is therefore a most fearefull thing to aduance any vnto this to bee the Lords seruant who is not woorthy to sit in the chaire of Moses and there is no reason why they shoulde minister in the church which are not woorthie to be the porters of the doore Surely the prophanenes of many in these places is so great and so damnable that besides the iniuries done to Christ many run headlong into hell thorough the euill example of their pastours The Lords seruants followe their maister in holinesse and not the world in lewdnesse they looke to the soules but these waite for the fleeces they preach vpon conscience these doe it for fashion they preach onely the truth but these bring the fire of poetrie philosophie and such like to the altar of God to conclude they bee the helpers vnto faith but these quench their owne giftes and keepe other from pure knowledge The reasons are these because the whole life of the minister must be onely exercised in spirituall heauenly matters Act. 6. 2. 4. The apostles would consent to nothing which was not consonant to their ministerie or that might any waies hinder the same And for this cause the Lord hath so prouided that they should be exempted from all worldly businesse and receiue their maintenance from other not onely for themselues but for their children and families The which thing considered would aduertise a number of vs that wee which warre should not entangle our selues with the things of this life we should neuer giue ouer our seruice for that is nothing else but to forsake God wee must neuer cause our sinnes to make vs be thrust out of the ministerie for that will exclude vs from heauen wee must neuer bee idle and vnprofitable seruants in our ministerie for that will worke our curse and wee must neuer be wearie of our places for that will weaken and lessen our giftes But alas once there might come no rasor on the ministers heads but now adaies heads and beards and all are powled if wee shoulde not nowe looke to our owne maintenance wee might soone want sustenaunce and our children are easily suffered to begge though their parents haue well deserued of the Church of God Another reason is because none may offer them any violence but the Lorde accounteth it his owne Exod. 16. 8. and hee saith by the prophet Dauid Touch not mine annointed and doe my prophets no harme How desperate is the case of all men who are daily by wordes and deedes reuiling the ministers of the gospell and thinke themselues happy if they can giue a priest a deadly blowe by their enuenomed toong Truely I will say our owne sinnes were the cause of all this yet if the kisse of Iudas was so mortally punished these mens not kisses but wounds not with lips but with toongs and hands shall neuer escape vnrewarded for as by their toongs they haue killed vs so the Lord with his toong shall condemne them From hence let vs of the ministerie learne our dutie which is seeing we are the Lordes owne seruants let vs labour to present euerie man perfect in Iesus Christ Col. 1. 28. there is no seruant but he desireth not onely to do much worke but that hee may present it faire and beautifull to his masters viewe this is our labour to bring many soules and saints to the Lorde of glory Abraham sending his seruant to fetch a wife for Isaac his sonne he brought him godlie and beautifull Rebecah wee are the Lordes seruants and wee are sent to fetch a wife for Iesus Christ the sonne of God oh let vs be as faithfull vnto God the father and to Iesus Christ as that seruant was to Abraham and Isaac let vs doe our message with diligence let vs execute our charge with praier let vs giue them the golden bracelets of God his truth and let vs with all speede and haste returne againe to him that sent vs. When Iacobs sonnes went into Egypt Iudah promised him to bring Beniamin againe if he woulde let him go or else he shoulde slaie his owne two sonnes and so if wee bring not againe to the Lorde his beloued children he will slaie our bodies and soules for euer and euer for at our hands will he require them Come on therefore my deere and holy annointed brethren we haue the leading of God his children wee haue the keeping of Christs Queene we haue the tillage of the Lords corne we haue the vse of the Lords treasure we haue the price of our Sauiours bloud if we loose his childrē he wil slay ours if we defile his wife he wil curse vs if we neglect his husbādry he will spoile ours if we waste his treasure he wil sel vs to perpetuall bondage and if we spill our Sauiours bloud he shall condemne our bloud body and soule Oh therfore let vs be instāt in preaching holy in liuing earnest in praier zealous in exhortatiō careful in admonition instructing the children correcting the youth and comforting the aged that as Iacob returned with many more soules out of Syria into Canaan then hee brought so may wee come with many soules out of this world into the world to come Another vse shall be for the people that considering wee be the Lordes owne seruants and therefore open and shut the priuie chamber doore which leadeth vnto him and to vs is committed the building of the church then as the Apostle exhorteth you Ephes 4. 11 14. that ye giue heed to them whom the Lorde sendeth you for spirituall guides direct not your praiers to Angels and saints in heauen for they haue not the keeping of the Lordes workes but the ministers which be aliue are the priuie counsellers to the Lordes maiestie whom if you will not beleeue neither can you beleeue though an angell come from heauen vnto you And therefore as all the people were wonte to waite for the comming out of the priest that hee might blesse them so do you all euermore waite for the blessing and mercy and grace and counsell and loue of God to come from them to you As the Lorde turneth the bloude of a woman into milke for the nourishment of hir childe so doth hee turne our wordes and gifts and knowledge and learning and studie and life to be the nourishment of you his church Come to vs for comfort and instruction and edification and saluation you are the Lordes housholde we are his stewards come to vs for your meate of soule and wages
of life When Adam came againe to God hee receiued the promise of life when the creatures came to Noahs arke hee kept them from the floude when the Egyptians came to Ioseph he saued them from famine and when the people came to heare Christ preach he relieued their fainting Come you likewise to the ministerie they will giue you the promises open vnto you the kingdome deliuer you the corne and satisfie your soules most plentifully that you shall neuer faint till you come to the euerlasting abiding place Except the priestes had stoode in the riuer of Iorden the children of Israell coulde neuer haue passed ouer euen so wee stande in the troubles of this world to keepe them from you else you shoulde neuer come into Canaan Oh therefore come while wee stande and beare the Lordes arke or else the waters of heresie and Atheisme will come againe and then farewell your hope your health and your saluation The xiij Sermon Verse 14. Sanctifie a fast call a solemne assemblie gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the lande into the house of the Lorde your God and crie vnto the Lorde THat is call and prepare a fast to the which some may say that they might well enough fast seeing their meat corne was alreadie withered and they had more need to seek to saue their liues then to go to fast to endanger themselues farther Vnto which I answere that the forenamed calamitie was but prophetically foretold therefore as yet there was not such want but only it shoulde bee if they repented not Hee biddeth them prepare a fast that is a general humiliation for all the people wherein shoulde bee nothing but mourning and abstinence and this kinde of fast is a great and good part of the worship of God Esay 58. 13. Therefore from hence wee obserue that God taketh occasion by threatning of his wrath against vs to mooue vs to worship him more earnestly so wee may see Iudg. 20. 26 27. when the Israelites in a good cause had beene ouercome of the Beniamites and lost the liues of many braue men it mooued them againe to goe to humble themselues before the Lorde with fasting and bitter weeping and lamentation And surely this seemeth to be the continual course of the Lords dooing in the church that as the grounde is plowed that it might yeelde more fruite so the church is afflicted that it may giue him more worship Wee are for the most part like the disciples which knew not howe to fast or to afflict themselues till Christ was taken from them and then they fasted Mark 2. 20. So when wee are either generallie molested or particularly endangered howe doe we cleaue to the churches and turne ouer the bibles and runne ouer the worde but in times of more ease wee are more idle and take libertie of sinning when wee feele the greatest liberalitie of our Sauiour If wee haue no other cause to reioice in our pouertie and sicknesse and infamie and danger and hunger and famme and all our tribulation then this that we are by them better fitted for the Lordes seruice yet let this make vs clap our harts and hands that we may any waie glorifie our creator And as the Israelites were as willing to fight with the Canaanites as to possesse their lande so let vs bee as willing to fight with manie troubles as to possesse many pleasures The reasons of this doctrine are these bicause such kinde of miseries lamented by such kinde of worship doth turne away our captiuitie and appease the Lordes wrath Lament 2. 14. and therefore wee may take great comfort in the forewarning of our miseries seeing we may be prepared therby against all danger to auoide all wrath if the Lorde did not by the ministerie of his worde humble vs we shoulde euer be subiect to mortall confusion and immortall condemnation But so hee ordereth all things in his church that as the ouerflowing Nilus maketh the earth more fertill so the floudes of troubles going ouer the bodies and liues of his members maketh them more peaceable once the disease purged the bodie is well quieted and once the pride of our sinne and natures scoured and rubbed awaie the soule is more strengthened Another reason is bicause that the Lorde will haue that thinge worke the good of his church which worketh the desperation of infidels for wicked men in their troubles are at their wits ende as wee may see Mich. 4. 5. so was it in Cain and Edom and the Egyptians and Saule and Herod which all perished through affliction The nature of the wicked is like iron which will neuer swimme though it be neuer so little except it be nailed to some woode or other substance so the wicked being banished from the godly they fall downe and sticke fast in an vnresistable mire of afflictions so that wee may see as the crosse of Christ was the life of the church but the death of the diuell so are many other crosses the life of the Lordes deare children but the death of his despitefull enimies The vses which come from this doctrine are these First seeing wee are by our affections stirred vp to serue the Lorde let vs keepe our soules in continuall chastisement that we may continually be mindfull of the Lordes seruice 1. Peter 4. 7. Those which lie in garrisons although they seldome fight yet euery day they discipline and traine their souldiers so although wee seldome lie vnder great danger of exceeding slaughter yet let vs continue our soules in correction and obedience If Dauid had alway vsed this he had not so easilie forgotten himselfe and brought Vrijah to death and himselfe into filthie adulterie Euen so the want of this priuate chastisement and continuall afflicting of our soules for our sinnes maketh vs wanton in wealth proude in prosperitie presumptuous in health and often subiect to sathans temptations Afflictions may rightly bee compared to a hedge which hath thornes on both sides so that that which is within cannot come out and that which is without cannot come in in like manner when our liues are hedged with troubles the good thinges which are in our soules cannot goe out of vs and the euill thinges which are without vs cannot come into vs. Weepe often for thy sins that thou maiest alway bee sorrowfull pray often for thy amendement that thou maiest still bee penitent Thinke manie times on thy later ende that thou maiest neuer bee arrogant so shalt thou saue thy selfe from many euils and gaine thy conscience great peace and procure thy soule euerlasting blessednes for if this life bee contrary to the life to come then it followeth that as there shall bee neuer ceasing ioy for the ceasing of sinne so heere ought to be a neuer ending sorrow for the continuance of sinne Another vse which commeth of this doctrine is seeing our euils make vs more fit to serue God then is it a miserable thing to be made more vnfit
welth nor forsake your life but cast away vaine mirth idle talke wicked hope wretched behauiour leaue your sins to the diuel frō whence they came giue thy soule to the Lord frō whence it came Elisha did but require of Naaman to go into the riuer seuen times he shuld be clean which his seruants tolde him was but a small thing so we require you but to wash your souls with the water of your eies and you shal be as free from death as Naaman was from the leprosie But why should I need to instruct you are you not minded like Ieremie that of himselfe desired riuers of teares to weep for his people so be you not backward but of your own accord so that you may plese the lord desire that you were al teares to lamēt throughly the miseries of the world Oh lament with speed tarrie not or else it wil be too late whē you shal see before your eies the litle infants quartred the aged persons mangled the cruell heathens aduanced the poore christians dying the aire thundering the earth quaking vnder you and the cloudes rayning downe fire and vengeance Another vse is this that we be so minded at the hearing of the Lordes iudgements as if they were presently to be executed It was a great fault in the Israelites that whensoeuer the prophet spake any thing to them they presently thought and saide this shall not bee yet it will be a good while before it come to passe and we neede not care for wee may bee dead and gone out of the way ere this bee fulfilled Ezech. 12. 27. 28. but the Lorde rebuketh that follie and biddeth the prophet tell them that it shall bee shortly performed And so the like rage possesseth the heades and braines of many in our daies which although they knowe that it is true that is tolde them of a destruction yet euery one thinketh it shall not be this yeere nor in our Queenes daies nor so long as the Gospell remaineth and therefore they will possesse al their vanity rather then be humbled But this ought not to beso yea rather hasten out of this securitie as Lot out of Sodom and the Israelites out of Egypt that thou maiest escape it whensoeuer it commeth It is better with the wise virgines to be readie an houre or two or three too soone then with the foolish to tarrie a quarter of an howre too late Therefore admit the danger bee not as yet yet bicause wee are nowe warned let vs now be prepared shall we not make as great account of the Lords louing mercie as of our owne health yes yes my beloued and therefore let vs arise to lamentation bicause the Lord calleth for it although there were no danger following after But wee are like the disciples which coulde not watch but sleepe euen then when Christ was in most danger although our Sauiour did manie times awake them till at length the enimie came vpon them and they were all driuen to forsake Christ so I praie God our like securitie bee not with the like danger awakened for I feare if the mercifull voice of a Sauiour will not mooue vs the terrible crie and swordes of enimies will amaze vs. As a destruction In these wordes is the general cause of the lamentation described bicause the Lords wrath is kindled to make a destruction Wherein there is to bee noted that nothing doth so much feare and terrifie good men as the anger of God Deuter. 9. 17 18. When Moses perceiued that God was angrie hee fell downe flat on his face and besought God neither eating nor drinking for fortie daies and nights togither was not their feare great that made this good man to aduenture his life by so long fasting and his soule by desiring to bee razed out of the booke of life yes verily for the anger of the Lord mooued him more then if he had seene all the worlde on fire about his eares But carnall Gospellers and carelesse Atheists as they thinke it a farre more lesse matter to please God then to please man so they deeme it a lesse matter to haue God angry with them then the prince or some great rich men that may hinder their worldly estimation Alas alas if Saule were fearefull to a thousande Dauid was to tenne thousande and if worldly men may a little terrifie the flesh the God of the worlde may infinitelie plague the spirite Therefore put on this affection that we may knowe what to thinke of the wrath of God if the anger of a prince be the messenger of death much more is the wrath of God the herauld of condemnation When Assuerus was angrie presently Hamans face was couered and he carried to execution woulde not Haman giue all his possessions to haue retained the fauour of the king so likewise aduenture any thing rather then to stirre vp the coales of the Lordes wrath by which thou thy selfe and all thy neighbours shall be burned without mercy Oh therefore studie to knowe howe to auoide his displeasure and to retaine his louing countenance and let not the loue of any sinne so bewitch thee that thou procure his vengeance in working thy desire The reasons of this doctrine are these First bicause none can bee an intercessour or a friende to God being angrie 1. Sam. 2. 25. that is there is not anie mortall man that can doe any such a pleasure as to staie the Lords wrath from falling on him or that may bee able to stande in the gap of the Lordes wrath The which consideration might most effectually admonish all our presumptuous companions which thinke that the Lord is pinned to their sleeues imagining him to be such a childe as might bee lost with an apple and wonne with a trifle againe but they shall finde it a farre more heauie matter when no offers of gold no intreaties offriends no teares of greefe no nor yet the fruit or blood of their bodies shal pacifie or recompence him for their sins This ought to make vs account highly of the mediation intercessiō of Christ and not to tread vnder our feete his glorious blood shedding after we be once reconciled Another reason is because it is a most fearefull thing to fall into the handes of the liuing God Heb. 10. 31. such a fearefull thing as passeth all vnderstanding and therefore who but mad men will run too farre into this danger Although Dauid chose rather to fall into the hands of God then men because he was well assured the iudgement was but a fatherly correction and not a reuenging punishment yet we must know that he knew that it would bee but a corporall or bodily death but we are not assured of halfe so much yea happie were we if the wrath of God did but reach to our bodies and that he would be satisfied for our sinnes if we lost our children and wealth and friendes and health and life or that if we could endure all
bodie of Saul doe when his soule was so laden with sin for he knew that the Philistines must needes haue his life and the diuell his soule in like manner will the enimie bewitch you when you are in aduersitie Therefore cast down your castles and defences for sin as the Lord exhorteth Hos 10. 14. before the diuell make them inuincible For as the raigne of Abimelech was the slaughter of Gedeons sonnes and the raigne of Athaliah was the ouerthrow of all the kings seede so is it betwixt vs and our sinnes if they raigne we must die if we put them downe we shall liue Let vs therefore cast them downe betimes for as the Israelites did at the first spare the Canaanites afterwarde they could neuer destroy them so if at the first we dallie with our sinnes in the end they will grow vnresistable Oh that we might liue to say of our sinnes as Christ said of the temple that there might not one sinne be left vpon another Let vs bury our sinnes as Ieremy said Iehoijakim should be buried Ierm 22. 18 19. that their deaths be not lamented but let them be cast out of our soules as a dead asse is cast out of a citie for as a dead corps procureth nothing but wormes and stinke and feedeth fowles so our sinnes cause nothing but woe and sorrow and feed diuels Againe let vs not onely cast away our sinnes in heart as many say they haue done but in words and works professe and shew the same Hos 14. 3. for by our words we shall be saued and by our words we shall be condemned A repentant man is knowne by his confession as Rahabs house was knowne by the thred that was tied in her window which caused her all her kindred to be spared and so if we would be spared at the great day of the Lord let vs confesse our selues to be of his family Many I know there be which thinke it sufficient to leaue sin and neuer to make confession thereof so also there be many that thinke it sufficient to beleeue the Gospell although they neuer professe it but in my opinion the one and the other are both deceiued For wee must not bee of Abrahams heart and of Belials life wee may not beare the soule of Dauid and the shewe of Pharisees Good king Iehoshaphat being in shewe like wicked Ahab was in danger to be slaine for Ahab so are all those in danger of death who haue inwardly good heartes and outwardly euill liues Confesse thy sinnes thy faith thy God thy sinnes to thy brethren thy faith to the church and thy God to the whole worlde that thou maiest bee as farre from note of euill as euer is light from the shewe of darknes The xviij Sermon Vers 7. They shall runne like strong men and goe vp to the wall like men of warre and euery one shall goe forwarde in his way and they shall not staie in their paths NOwe the Prophet commeth to the last similitude wherein he compareth these deuourers to souldiours for in truth there is not any mischiefe like to the mischiefe of warre which is well termed the slaughter house of mankinde and the hell of this worlde And in this treatise following I must enter into martiall affaires that as I haue hitherto taught you to be christians so now I must instruct you to bee soldiours and learne you the arte of warre Wherein this Prophet toucheth two things The first is the order of an armie vers 7. 8. Secondly the ouerthrowe or sacking of the conquered For the first he noteth what manner of men souldiors shoulde be namely Strong men Exod. 17. 10. For God hath so ordeined that all men haue their crosses and callings to humble them If thou be bee wise thou art emploied in gouernment if thou bee strong thou art busied in warre if thou be weake thou art tormented in want if thou be a woman thou art vnder subiection if thou bee a foole thou liuest in contempt Therefore thou which art a souldier make this vse of this point that thou encrease thy strength and cast away feare Deuter. 31. 8 Vndoe not thy strength by quarrelling or drinking or watching or fasting or feasting or whooring but keepe thy body in strength to benefite thy countrey Againe make another vse which the Lorde taught Iosuah the most noble captaine and souldier of the worlde who had the leading of sixe hundred thousand men and ouercame thirtie and one seuerall kinges in a little time this exhortation is set downe Ios 1 8. That alway in warre thou looke to the worde of God whether thy cause bee iust thy heart bee willing and thy calling be lawfull whether thy handes strike when God biddeth and thy foote stande when God calleth Looke to this I saie and robbe not kill not and fight not but against a lawfull enimie But alas Iosuah is dead and al those which sawe his doings now in warres there is gaine in steade of godlines courage in steade of equitie bloudthirstines in steade of valour policie in steade of iustice and you seldome see a souldier of any religion and neuer praieth till he bee in danger of death Another instruction ariseth out of this verse when the prophet saith Like men of warre whereby we obserue that souldiers should bee disciplined and instructed before they be sent into wars or else they cannot be like men of war This benefite Dauid acknowledged that he receiued of God Psal 18. 34. it is a dangerous matter to aduenture a whole army vpon yoong souldiers and more dangerous it is to vndoe any through want of skill The reason is bicause men must not onely haue strength but wisedome and cunning in their weapons and sometime vse the stratagems of warre where policie and experience is woorth tenne thousand mens handes as wee may see in Iosuah cap. 8 4 5 6. and in the Israelites Iudg. 20. Wherfore make this vse in thy warfare of this doctrine howsoeuer thy cause be good thy strength be great and thy experience much yet neuer fight til thou haue cōmended the victorie to God 2. Sam. 10. 12. for God is the warrior which daunteth euery enemy and directeth euerie dart to the person appointed Be not too bold as the Israelites were Deut. 1. and were chased backe againe by the Amorites but vse deuotion to God and discretion in thy busines remember well that the sword cannot cut except the Lord whet it that thy arme cannot strike except God enable it that the enimie will not flie except he discomfort him and that victorie will not follow thee except God be on thy side Againe if thou bee an able man for the warre both in strength and skill come willingly when thou art called and refuse not to fight in a good cause although it bee against thy own brother Yeeld obedience to them that shall teach thee and as the captaine in the Gospell said that his souldiers did
fruitfull abounding with many a pleasant herbe let not thy hart be barren and stuffed with filthie stinking sins Come to the spirituall gifts of God see how many preachers thou hast to moue thee to repentance it is the end of preaching the fruit of hearing the motion of praier the sacraments signifie it the Spirit worketh it and the whole church of God liueth in it the bishop watcheth for it the doctor teacheth for it the worker of myracles doth witnesse it the poore mans boxe doth prooue it I cannot run ouer al it is sufficient that euery one do prooue it I would to God that any might preuaile The reason because God woulde be neere vnto all that call vpon him Psa 145. 18. he wil cōpasse vs about with a world of witnesses that they may draw vs to him or else to accuse our disobedience whom the heauēs could not win or the earth admonish or the church perswade or the spirite instruct that all these which could not work our health may further our death And seeing in euery place these are manifest in so much as we despise all warnings of God and his creatures it is most equall that we be pnnished with all torments of hell fire Seeing all things are notes vnto vs of the Lords fauour then assuredly if men will shew any care to serue him hee will neuer hide his face or punish vs extremely 2. Chron. 30. 9. Oh what a comfort is this to a troubled soule to haue all the creatures of the world to witnesse the Lords fauour the birds flying the beastes eating the corne standing the grasse growing and the houses ouer our heads are pledges vnto vs of the grace of God Then turne thee and consider not two or three but euery one in their kinde and thou shalt finde inestimable ioy Why doe men complaine for want of grace when all the world is ful of grace it pearseth the stones it cleaueth the rocks it shaketh the trees it quickeneth the beastes and it descendeth to the bottome of the earth onely the soules of men are not capable thereof Beginne now with thy selfe set these creatures as iudge arraigne thy soule as guiltie bring foorth thy guiltie conscience and waite for the sentence of condemnation Oh no saue thy selfe from these frowarde inuentions Turne I say a little shew a willing minde bring a ready hart pray for an ounce of godly sorrow and let the world and the gospell the creatures and the spirite the earth and the church the angels and the beastes encrease the same gather thou the wood they will blowe the fire thy care shall be augmented as the widowes oile by Elishah that thy debts shall be discharged thy trouble shall be eased thy life shall be amended and thy soule shall be blessed Seeing all the creatures of God doe remember vs of his grace then let euery creature be deere and precious vnto vs Gen. 1. 31. as a pledge of his fauour for the Lorde cōmendeth them all to be good And if he which wrought them doe so then much more ought wee for whose sake they were created Let vs then often meditate on the frame of the world the bodies of men the proportion of beastes and the little greene leaues shall minister vnto vs much instruction to reforme our liues we shall finde not one of them made for themselues but all of them for one another and especially for vs. Wherefore it cannot bee that we were borne for luxurie riot pleasure profite sorrowe loue ioy or hatred no not for the possession of our selues but for the possession of the Lord. Consider these things and thou shalt finde all time too little not spent herein and all ioy but vanitie that is not applied to this When thou canst not heare the worde reade it when thou canst not reade then meditate on it when thou art wearie of meditation then turne to the creatures and solace thy selfe in them as in a most pleasant garden of many sweet flowers marke their diuersitie in colour strange in number infinite in making contrarie and yet in vse all one euen for thy sake that thou mightest be for the Lords glorie Marke their growth that thou maist growe so and their death for thou shalt die so and their spring for thou shalt arise in the sommer of all pleasures with them in the kingdome of heauen Mercifull The second reason is taken from the Lords mercie and that therefore if they will repent he will pardon Wherein I might tell you many thinges woorth the learning of the Lordes mercie and shew you by many arguments howe the scripture in many places doth expresse it sometime naturally as to men and beasts Psal 36. 6. sometime to good and bad Mat. 5. to his church through Christ Luc. 1. 78. and all these he meaneth in this place when hee saith that God is mercifull not simply through Christ whereby he saueth his church but also through himselfe whereby he loueth al his creatures From hence obserue that the mercie of God must leade men to repentance 1. Sam. 12. 24. The which is cleane contrary to the course of the worlde which take it for a libertie of sin and make it not a necessitie to repentance but a good childe is more afraid of a gentle and a kind father then of a sterne and seuere and we if we be the children of God must be as much terrified from sinne with the sweete songs of Sion as with the loud thunder claps of Sinai be as subiect to the Lords censure in his sweete mercies as other in the fearfull curses of the Law Therefore let not our time of peace our healthie bodies our large possessions our heaps of treasure our sweete children and all other mercies of God make our harts fat but let vs vse all these to awake vs from sinning and to restraine vs from offending him that defendeth vs with them yea let vs weepe moe teares for hauing them then for wanting them that we may enioy the promises of this life and of the life to come The first reason because they are mercifull which loue mercie and therefore blessed Matt. 5. 7. If we would see a token of our pitifull harts then let vs thinke how the sweete promises of the Gospell haue pearced them It is no wonder to see such bloodie minds in Papists because they make small account of the Lords mercie teaching vs that men may satisfie for their sinne and for this cause they thirst after blood for the breach of their canons But yet let vs beware how we perswade men to relie on the mercie of God for they say wee teach men to trust to mercie and to liue vily but let vs exhort one another in the Lord that we walke woorthie of his mercie and vse his abundant clemencie for a promptor vnto repentance Another reason because God is more delighted with his mercie then with our sacrifice Hos
worthie learning not knowen to many learned kings and princes and this is true felicitie not felt of euerie one therefore Paul said I esteeme to know nothing but Christ and him crucified It maketh no matter to be ignorant of thy owne death if thou knowe the death of Christ it skilleth not to know what shall bee if thou know that he died for thee if thou know him his death will mortifie thee his wounds will wash thee and his stripes will saue thee He died wilt not thou repent He was condemned wilt not thou be saued He was crucified wilt not thou be sorrowful Study not to liue but to be leeue care not what shal be after thee in this world so thou be assured of the world to come Thou knowest not what shall be to morrow therefore repent to day thou knowest not whether God will hereafter therfore do it now learne this lesson speedily for as the Israelites could not gather Manna after the sunne was risen so thou canst not haue repentance after time is ouerpassed Seeing God concealeth many things from vs therefore let not vs curiously enquire after secret and hid things the which fault our Sauiour reprooueth in his disciples Act. 1. 7. In our times there be many which busie themselues about idle and vnprofitable questions as whether they shall know one another in the next life what God did before he made the world whether Christ should haue beene borne if Adam had stoode in innocencie and when or what time of the yeere shal be the latter day of which questions the schoolmen abound Againe there be other that thinke themselues verie christianly busied if they let alone the studie for knowledge the practise of prayer and the keeping of the morall law yea they are ignorant of the order of saluation but they turne to fro to find plat-formes of gouernment to speake against authoritie to erect new states and to prie and enquire into the secret liues and sinnes of men vnto whom I say with our Sauiour it is not for you to know these things I might wearie you to tell the conceits of them which take themselues for wise men and the dreames of the simpler sort vnto whom I say you teach and learne the lighter points of the lawe but iudgement and knowledge and sanctification you let alone Amend this fault for it is good to be ignorant of some things and what the Lord saith not beleeue not what is not disclosed enquire not what cannot be prooued receiue not and what the Lord hath silenced know thou not A meate offering we haue declared in the former chapter that there was no sacrifice but there was a meat and drink offering annexed vnto it for as the sacrifice was for God so was this for man And herein the Prophet teacheth vs seeing his desire is not for continuance of plentie or restitution of aboundance but for a meate offering and a drinke offering which was a small portion of meale and oyle and wine vsed in the seruice of God that we must rather impart our goods to the Lords worship then to the maintenance of our owne liues as Dauid did with the water of Bethleem 2. Sam. 23. 16. 17. I say wee must haue more care to serue God then to liue at ease and we must rather want for our selues then let religion go to the wall This I may teach but I know there are few that haue any wealth but had rather to depart with their profession church temple ministerie sacrifice gospell and God then with the Sarephthian widow to giue their little to Elijah I know what I speake I see much taken frō the Lord but little giuen to him Woe worth these lamentable times wherein already wise men may see that if want shoulde encrease surely the name of God would be forgotten vnles it were to be blasphemed Do we not see that a feast hath more guests then a sermon and a dinner more eaters then a church hath hearers Doe you thinke that they would desire but a meate offering for the Lords seruice nay rather they will weepe if their bellies be not serued before the Lord would they which gaine their meate by the life and sweat of other men do as Dauid did offer it to the Lorde no no we haue them among vs which care not what paine and danger and trouble they procure to other so themselues may eat the flesh drinke the best The first reason because it is the Lords portion that is allotted thereto Numb 18. 8. The Lord for the rent of all our goodes and lands which we holde of him as our cheefe Lorde hath reserued but two partes the one for the church and the other for the poore if we pay not these we forfeit all yea more then all into the hands of his maiestie Grudge not therefore at the charges of the gospel for thouseest how good thy farme is how smal thy rent is how large thy lease is how few are thy couenants and how easie to be kept depart with it willingly it is the Lords shal not the maister be serued before the man and shall not the Lord be paid though our cofers say nay O my brethren pay him cheerefully for you are bound by blood you are in danger to loose all and that woorthily if you giue not that little Another reason because it is better to die in miserie then to liue in impietie therefore it is better to liue godly with want then wickedly with abundance Psal 37. 16. A little thing that the righteous hath is better then the great riches of the vngodly Therefore serue the Lord before thy life and preferre his worship before thy appetite let not distrust hinder it the Lorde hath ynough for thee let not pouertie stay thee for thou must liue by the worde as well as by bread doe not refraine because thou hast little for if thou hadst much he can scatter and hauing little he can multiplie it Feare not want in age doubt not of helpe in sicknesse and despaire not of a supply when all is spent as God commanded thee The first vse we must knowe that God loueth that most deerely which we offer to him with the hazard of our owne want for this cause did our Sauiour so much commend the action of the poore widow Luc. 21. 4. before all the abundant offerings of the wealthy saying that her two mites were more then all theirs because she did it of meere loue to the Lord but the other of superfluitie And we if we haue any minde to the like commendation let vs put on the like affection although wee labour with our hands watch aboue our howers and fast aboue our ordinarie to giue the bread of our liues into the treasurie of the Lorde Neither ought wee to thinke but that the Lord doth highly accept the willing and rich offerings of the wealthy especially if they reserue it from vaine and proud expences
Oh how doth this magnifie religion the professors therof vnto the which they are more indebted then to their own liues let vs offer this sacrifice for the Lord will take any thing at our hand in good part ifit be little because we haue but little he maketh much therof if it be much because we haue much he maketh more thereof then say we all If God doc thus accept then will we giue it Let vs not reason with him as the woman of Samaria did Iohn 4. when hee asked for water but let vs speedily giue him his request as Rebecca did to Abrahams seruant who asking but a little yet she gaue him more Another vse let vs serue the Lord before our liues for else we make our selues gluttons and feede our bellies and the Apostle saith of this kinde 1. Cor. 6. 15. Meate for the belly and the belly for meate but God shall destroy both it and them Wilt thou spende all on thy belly and nothing on the Lorde thinkest thou that thou possessest all for thy selfe and nothing for the Lorde doest thou so liue to thy meate and with thy meate as if thou were onely borne for it and that were onely made for thee then surely take thou heede for God shall destroy both it and thee Giue therefore to him and to his vses in his church if thou faile thy store shall faile and if thou repent not thy life shall perish Who was euer famished for meate that gaue it to the Lord or begged for his bread which spent it at the altar or was empouerished by maintaining religiō surely none but with them was the saying of Salomon performed There is that giue and haue nothing the lesse Eate not I beseech you your destruction in your meat and drinke not your damnation in your abundance if you will saue your life you shal lose it but if in this case for the Lords cause you wil lay downe your life you shall finde it If when wee haue but little we giue from our selues to the Lorde we do as poore Iacob did which sent his store into Egypt with his sonnes where was more store but through his little hee gained both his sonnes he saued his owne life and sustained all his familie so let not vs doubt or feare to bestow on the Lord for looke what wee loose we sowe for more encrease what we giue we shall gaine and what in peasure we dispende in paine we shall lament The xxiiij Sermon Vers 15. 16. Blowe the trumpet in Sion sanctifie a fast call a solemne assemblie gather the people sanctifie the congregation gather the elders assemble the children and those that sucke the brests let the bridegroome go foorth of his chamber and the bride out of hir bride chamber OF the blowing of the trumpet wee haue spoken in the beginning of this chapter so also we haue handled the proclaiming of a fast the calling of an assemblie both of the people and of their elders al which to stande vpon againe were but needlesse Therefore wee will to the next wordes The yoong children and them that sucke the breasts That is euery one among you from the least to the most Some will saie vnto me what good can the sucking children do in the Lordes seruice I grant in sight they cannot but seeing Dauid saith that the brute beastes do seeke their meate at God which they doe not by praying or speaking so may Ioel assigne the yoong sucking babes to want their meat that with their mothers they might poure foorth most lamentable teares and terrible cries into the eares of the Lord and for this cause to increase mourning doth the prophet inuite them to the fast From hence we may obserue that the wrath of God must bee appeased with a generall repentance Olde men and babes yoong men and maidens rich and poore prince and people must all bee humbled at the Lordes anger as we may reade Ion. 3. 8. Yea the very cattle of the Niniuites were couered with a mourning weede wherein wee may see that it is no maruaile if the Lorde were so long angrie with vs bicause we were not generally humbled If parents haue repented yet children haue not sorrowed if children mourne parents haue beene dissolute if the old men were humbled the yoong men rebelled Therefore our misery remaineth bicause some remaine obstinate The reasons First bicause the Lord hath a quarrel against al sexes ages degrees and conditions of men Ierem. 12. 12. the which ought to be a sufficient cause to haue euery one to be humbled and let not one escape I muse much that many christian parents haue so little regarde to their children that they care not with what vanities and toies they delight and allure them thinking they are not bounde to any exercise on Sabbaoth daies nor that any oath or foolish talke doth annoy them But heere wee see not onelie those which can speake must practise religion but also if they bee able to crie let them feele the Lordes commandement Some will thinke that these little children are innocent and therefore neede no repentance for it is a common saying if it goe not well with children howe shall it goe with olde men meaning that children are without sinne Vnto which I answere that they are sinfull by nature euen the heires of wrath Eph. 2. 2. and if they were not yet bicause God requireth it who dare refuse it and the rather bicause the brute beastes are inuited thereto which neither can nor euer shall sinne Another reason bicause whosoeuer doth not thus humble himselfe shall be iudged of God 1. Cor. 11. 31. We know it an vsuall thing in the worde of God to spare neither man woman nor childe and to take the sucking babes and to dash their braines against the wall If they be subiect to punishment why not to religion if to death why not to the Lordes seruice Therefore let all bee humbled children because they are borne in sinne olde men bicause they are weary of sin yoong men bicause they liue in sin and striplings bicause they grow in sin or else shall euerie one die in condemnation Let vs not therefore prouoke the Lord 1. Cor. 10. 22. but consider how fearefull it is to stirre a lion from his den or to meete a Beare robbed of hir whelpes or to prouoke a prince to displeasure of which it is saide That the anger of a king is the messenger of death but I saie if the Lorde more fierce then a lyon more raging then a Beare and more powerfull then a prince bee stirred vp to strike vs wee can hardely hurt him hee can easilie destroie vs wee can hardlie mooue him but more hardly pacifie him See you not that the newe borne babes shall repent it yea sometime they feele it before they bee borne Oh thinke vpon it the blood of olde men the strength of yoong men the beautie of women and the loue of children
eares and hand and heart to theirs when they are humbled fall thou downe when they are praying praie with them when they are hearing heare with them when they are singing sing with them and when they are mourning lamenth with them If they ioine in petition to God oh account it happinesse for thee to subscribe thy name for they are blessed that are ioyned to the fellowship of the saints Another vse if wee must seate our selues in most conuenient place to heare then let vs also frequent the places of praier and religion When the church was compelled to a riuers side in steede of a cathedrall church Act. 16. 15. Lydia the purple woman resorted thither and once she had her hart opened and conuerted to the Lord In like manner let vs resort to the churches for at one time or other we may boldly assure our selues that we shall receiue the pledge of life eternall But in our daies men are so affected to this doctrine that the diuell laugheth at it and good men lament it for either they come not at all as the ghestes which were bid to a wedding or else they come without conscience as he did without a wedding garment or else they are present without attention as Eutyches that fell on sleepe at Paules preaching or else they depart out of our assemblies as Iudas did from Christ when hee went to betray him Standing times of praier in the church some say are of Poperie and in the house they are of other condemned for puritanisme so that godly praiers being the sword of the spirite are now growen rustie and dull that few mens sins or liues or harts are parted therewith But my deere brethren come to the times of praier and binde your selues not onely publikely but also priuately with seuere vowes and pay them to the Lord for so shall the fire of the spirite be kindled in you the holy Ghost shall raigne in you the saints shall be comforted by you and you shall trie that all things are possible to a Christian Spare thy people Now we are come to the praier which the prophet teacheth the priestes to make for the people which is thus much in effect Wee haue no refuge but to flie to thee O Lord we are guiltie of the punishment but yet thou maist stay thy hand and spare our liues Giue vs not ouer wee pray thee that our enemies reioice not ouer vs and blaspheme thy blessed name we are the fields of thine owne inheritance reuenge our cause from the handes of strangers oh spare vs that we may serue thee First out of the beginning of this praier we may note that petitioners and those which are suiters to the throne of grace must alway pleade guiltie in the presence of God Luc. 18. 12 13. The example of the Publican prooueth this that the Lord loueth vs better when we tell him of our follies then when we shew him our vertues The Lord which will seldome helpe till there be no helpe but in his mercie biddeth vs alway to condemne our selues so that when wee thinke most basely of our natures and speake most vilely yet truly of our liues and confesse most bitterly against our selues then are we most nigh to the end of our praiers For this cause let vs meditate before praier that we may sufficiently waigh our miseries and more lamentably bewaile our wants and more ardently pray for his mercie that we may more comfortably enioy his fauour The reasons hereof because there is not one man liuing that can bee iustified before God Psal 143. 1 2. but euery man is an vnprofitable seruant for which cause we must alway accuse our sins and call for pardon at the Lords hand This reason being knowen of the baser and wickeder sort they imagine that they haue gained a sufficient charter to continue in their euill why say they the most righteous are guiltie in the Lords sight and what are we more Doe what wee can yet we shall sinne and we can but craue pardon of him for many as well as for few but this is a wicked and an accursed reason For although the best fall into many enormities yet ought not you to sinne good men fall into sinne but you dwell in sinne they are sorrie for them but you delight in them Dauid sinned was therefore Absolom or Achitophel vnpunished because Peter denied his maister might therefore Iudas betray him or because one man falleth into debt by sicknesse may you therefore fall into debt through riot if a sound body doe now and then fall into sicknesse then hee which hath a crazie body had neede to looke to himselfe so if men of sound soules doe fall into euils you which haue sicke soules must bee much more carefull of your health Another reason our Sauiour giueth Luc. 18. 14. for the Lord resisteth the proude and giueth grace to the humble and meeke therefore ought wee to increase in the numbring of our sinnes that the Lord may aduance vs to the beholding of his mercie Let vs be assured if we pray without sorrow we doe but mocke the Lord but if we sorrow with earnest praier we prepare many ioyes for our soules First let vs learne that our praiers must bee ardent and continuall in the eares of the Lord as the Israelites were Iudg. 10. 3. to 13. for as we haue a continuall occasion of sinning so we must take continuall occasion of praying Who is he that hath beene but a little while in the practise of christianitie and hath not learned this lesson My sinnes are euer in my sight too heauie a burden for me to beare therefore as he which is vexed with a continuall want laboureth in a continuall worke and hee which hath a continuall sicknesse turneth on euery side to finde ease so must we which are euermore oppressed with sinne be euermore praying for helpe As the greatest burdens make the porters sweate the greatest drops so will our sinnes if we feele them make vs sweate drops of blood to be released of them therefore pray till thou be heard and take for thy example the poore widow which woulde neuer giue ouer till the iudge had righted her cause neither doe thou cease to pray til thy soule doe cease to sinne Many pray through want but not with want and for grace but not with grace they are cold and not continuall in their suites Who is so hard harted seeing a poore man with as many sores as his body can beare running after him a mile or twaine and begging but a penny that coulde denie him in like manner if wee shewe all our sores and sinnes and miseries vnto the Lord continually that when our voice is wearie our harts may speake and when our harts are sleepie our wounds may crie for mercie so that we may neither eate nor sleepe till we know our sinnes be pardoned Let vs neuer be afraide to come to the Lord notwithstanding we finde
hell will once againe commit and bequeath you to condemnation as the fruitles fig tree was Thinke not your selues happie that you liue so long before you bee called to beare for verily long agoe were you appointed and called to yeelde him his haruest If therfore you wil not striue to yeeld it thinke that God wil reape where he did not sowe and gather where he did not lende and hee will tarrie no time for the figge tree bore no fruit bicause the time of fruites was not come yet was it reprobated So if God come to thee although thou neuer were able to yeelde him any commoditie yet he will regarde himselfe and not thee his expectation and not thine his glory and not thy welfare for he which is hardlie prouoked is more hardly pacified neither sparing in his rage man woman beast or angell That the heathen These wordes containe another grounde of their praier wherein they desire that the Lorde woulde spare them least that by reason of famine they shoulde be driuen to the Lordes enimies for succour or else they feared that when their scarsitie shoulde bee noised abroade the heathen woulde come conquer them From hence we may obserue that there is not any thing more odious to godly mindes then that the heathen idolatrous men without religion should rule ouer them Psal 74 4 5. As it is vnnaturall and dangerous that men shoulde bee ruled by beastes sheepe by woolues and little birdes by the great hauke euerie minute threatening to teare them in peeces so is it when good men are driuen through want or warre or loue or feare of life to seeke harbour among the enimies of God Well they know that their libertie is woorse then imprisonment and that the highest place of dignitie among the wicked is inferior to the lowest in the church of God as Dauid saide I had rather keepe a dore in the house of God then to dwell in the tents of wickednes What pleasure haue we of sight liuing in darknes or of health liuing in imprisonment or of strength liuing in bondage or of meate liuing in sickenes and no more shall we haue of all worldly things when we are in the lande of heathens The first reason bicause in the dominion of the wicked there is no conscience of bloode or care of equitie Ezech. 22. 27. They turne their subiects to slauerie their widowes to destruction their children to beggerie and they send heapes of dead carkeises at one time to the graue they care not for religion neither respect the king of heauen and earth Although the streetes flowe with bloode and the liuing be not sufficient to burie the dead yet if they may raigne they care not Life and liuing and honestie is nothing woorth among them They denie God persecute his church and burne his worde most wickedly they regard not olde men rauish women and murther children villanouslie They take away houses landes rentes goods patrimonies and wiues from them that possesse them and therefore there is no greater crosse then to liue vnder the gouerment of a heathen Another reason bicause their wickednes shall be a continuall heart-burning vnto them 2. Pet. 2. 7. Psalm 120. 5. Their eares shall heare their blasphemies their eies shall see their idolatrie and their liues shall feele their treacheries All thinges shall bee lawfull among them saue goodnes for nothing is lawfull that tendeth to godlines Oh how will this grieue a godly soule to heare his Sauiour reuiled true religion slandered the godly to be hated the worlde to bee loued the diuell to bee worshipped and heauen to bee neglected Hee must not speake for feare of death he must not pray but in secret hee shall not dare to disclose himselfe hee shall finde no neighbours nor friends nor followers nor comfort among them The first vse Let vs therefore forsake the fellowship of vnbeleeuers Esay 52. 12. whose presence is damnable whose liues are abhominable whose profession is execrable and whose ende is condemnation of these the worlde is filled and yet we must auoide them Let vs not bee defiled with their sinnes nor corrupted with their manners nor allured with their pleasures but go out from the middest of them They are hated of God possessed of diuels bewitched with vanities and professed miscreants Howe shall wee loue God and dwell among them but either the anger of God or the loue of the worlde or the baite of lustes or the inchantments of vanities will drawe vs away Oh let vs take our selues to desolate places and rather dwell with the brute beastes then with these godles persons we cannot trust them we may not liue with them we must flie from them or else be condemned among thē therefore put them from your houses and from your tables and from your conference and from your friendship I knowe you woulde bee ashamed to bee seene daily conuersing with an open and shamelesse harlot therefore much more be ashamed and forsake their company whose liues are like beasts whose hearts are like heathens whose faces are like harlots and whose actions proceed of euill I tell you their waies do leade vnto death and their lodgings are chambers of hell Where is nowe their God That is either they are not the Lordes people that are thus afflicted or else their God is no God that cannot deliuer them From hence wee may gather that it is the propertie of wicked men if they get aduantage against a professour of religion then presently they turne it against God himselfe and fall to reuiling his glorious maiestie Psal. 74. 10. So in our times if any haue any small profession of religion and doe fall into the handes of the worlde then presentlie they scoffe and scorne and laugh and deride Christ the Gospell religion and all the followers thereof If they happen to be poore why wil an atheist say canst thou not get thy liuing by hearing of Sermons If they bee rich men their faults shall be aggrauated The reason heereof is bicause they might be knowne to be not so much enimies to the godly as to God himselfe like the Iewes that crucified Christ Matth. 27. Let vs rather lament them that fall into their enimies handes then reioice at their sinnes and ouerthrowes let vs know that the Lord will surely take their cause into his owne hande and seuerely punish such intollerable blasphemie as he did in Rabsakeh and the king of Syria Esay 37. although their wordes bee great their pride be infinite their power glorious their mindes ambitious and their crueltie extreme yet will and shall the Lorde defende his name and truth and children from all their blasphemies and this shall bee a cause of their more speedy destruction The xxvj Sermon Vers 18. Then will the Lorde be iealous ouer his people and spare his land NOw at the length by the mercifull assistance of the Almightie are we come to the last part of this prophesie wherein as in the
keepeth life in vs who is able to shewe the cause heereof but the Lorde who knoweth all and if this one blessing shoulde faile vs although our possessions were as great as Salomons yet they woulde not serue vs. Againe let euery man in his place gather this meate and comfort for his life Esay 62. 3. that so we may perfourme the olde commandement of God to Adam that wee eate our meate in the sweate of our faces The Bees will not suffer one drone among them and so let not vs suffer them that are carelesse to prouide some thing whereby their dutie may be discharged to God and their liues preserued in the worlde Secondly he telleth them with what affection they should receiue their meat With praise and thankesgiuing to God Whereby wee may see one principall token of a temperate receiuer in that hee can giue thankes to God for his meate 1. Cor. 10. 25. but gluttons and belli-gods take their meate as Swine doe although with more manners yet with as little reuerence sitting downe to fill their bellies and rising vp to fulfill their pleasures and through immeasurable fulnes their teeth put their mouth to silence and sleepe falleth on them that their harts doe not onely forget their feeder but their maintainer also The first reason bicause it is a token they loue God Deut. 12. 11. and they that loue neuer offend for loue is the fulfilling of the lawe Againe meate is onely blessed vnto them that ioine thankesgiuing with it 1. Sam. 9. 13. So that whatsoeuer is not thankfully receiued must needes be accursed And surely if Paul saide he had rather neuer eate meate as long as hee liued then eate to the offence of his brother wee may more lawfully pine in famine starue in want and perish in distresse of meate rather then God shoulde bee offended Theeues which steale for meate coseners that deceiue for meate beggers that counterfaite for meate idle persons that worke not for meate and rich men that praie not for meate can neuer bee thankefull for that which they eate but all is accursed vnto them Let vs therefore for feare of the curse and especiallie for conscience of death liue soberly in praier in our eating and drinking working and resting sleeping and waking bicause wee knowe not whether wee eate our last morsell as the Israelites which died with meate in their mouthes or worke our last day-worke as the poore man that was stoned for gathering stickes on the Sabbaoth or sleepe our last sleepe neuer wake againe Surely as Iacob ended his life when he had blessed his children so shall we be happy if wee ende our liues when we haue praised God Againe let vs not tempt God for meate whatsoeuer distresse wee liue in but seeke it humblie in praier Psal 104. 27. that wee may eate more cheerefully and bee assured that God will continue his blessings for what shall it profite to feede our bodies to the full and let our soules goe starue and pine away to death That the Lord hath This clause is added vnto their praises at meate because then they ought to remember the Lordes benefits the which thing ought to driue away all vaine and foolish table-talke wherein men silence the mercie of God and praise the taste of their meate or the liberalitie of the feast-maker alway thanking him and neuer thinking on God whereas they are bound to do both We may note in these words that God doth not onely vse his ordinarie power in the deliuerie of his church but also his extraordinarie whereby he worketh maruels and woonders 1. Pet. 1. 5. for by the woonderfull power of God are we continued in our profession contained in the church and preserued to life eternall God told Dauid 2. Sam. 12. that if he had not done ynough for him yet he would haue done much more for him so that he hath not limited his power nor his mercie toward the faithfull The reasons first because we should knowe that we are saued through grace and the great power of God 1. Cor. 1. 18. as it is not a light matter to enioy a kingdome so is it not a small matter to climbe vp into heauen but the vnspeakable power of God must be vsed therein Againe the more power he vseth in his church the more must be his glorie Mark 7. 17. and this is the cause why all good men thinke they can neuer praise God ynough although euery day they renewe their thankesgiuing in heauen is the power of God most of all seene and therefore there the angels and saintes doe nothing but praise the power of God And therefore we may hereby learne that all miracles which God doth in the world doe call vs to bee partakers of his kingdome Matt. 12. 28. and if we refuse them and doe not come the same power shall be vsed in our condemnation that is promised in our saluation Neither let vs euer forget the works which God doth for vs Psal 106. 21 22. but remember them in our meate in our beds in our labour in our ease in our watching and in our reioicing that our God may still continue to doe them as we doe still perseuere to remember them Lastly in this verse hee promiseth that they should neuer be more ashamed of any reproches Whereby we may note that religion doth not commit any thing that either we may be ashamed of or repent 1. Cor. 15. 58. for our labour in religion is not in vaine If any thorough the feare or commaundement of God should slay their children as Abraham would or deceiue their maisters as Iacob did or beguile their husbands as Rebecca did or disobey their princes as Moses did or murther their enimies as Sampson did or loose their liues as Christ did yet shall they neuer neede to repent any of them Oh what a maruellous benefite hath a man by religion which he cannot haue by any other thing in the world There is nothing in all the life of man but wee may repent except it bee the feare of God We repent our words our works our expences our gettings our wanderings our negligence our diligence our sleepe meate and money and all We are ashamed of our thoughts our to yes trifles plaies childishnesse wantonnesse loue hatred lust pouertie nakednesse and the very parts of our body but of no part of religion Thou shalt neuer repent that thou forsookest the worlde beleeuedst in the Lord mournedst for thy sinnes studiedst in the scriptures heardest the preachers was obedient to the gospell praiedst many howers watched many nights fasted many daies endured many troubles and shalt die any death for the Lords sake seeing heauen is thy rest Nay rather we see many men in their death-beds wish with teares that they had hawked and hunted and plaied and laboured and loued and hated much lesse for now in their sicknesse their sinnes come on them as the Philistines came on Sampson when
he had lost his strength and carrie their poore soules into miserable captiuitie Oh wouldest thou neuer weepe nor sorrowe nor wring thy hands for any worldly thing then bee religious and as peace was in Israel all Salomons raigne so shall it be in thy soule all the while that religion raigneth The first reason because religion is the wisedome of God Matt. 11. 19. 1. Cor. 1. 30. now this is the greatest point of wisedome to foresee that they doe nothing which may hurt them for this is true repentance not to commit sinne which must be repented and it is religion that onely awaketh vs when wee are sleepie ruleth vs when we are awaked We neuer read that the children of Israel had any cause to repent their obedience all the while that they were in the wildernesse no more shall we haue any cause to repent our obedience to the gospell which is our heauenly wisedome Another reason it is the power of God vnto saluation Rom. 1. 16. Let vs therefore say with Dauid 2. Sam. 6. 22. that for the Lord of hostes sake and for religion wee will yet be more vaine that is howsoeuer the world account of vs and of our zeale in religion yet we will aduenture their displeasure farther for all their mockes and reproches and by names slanders shall not dismay vs but we will go forwarde in our pretended course And as Mical was cursed with barrennesse all hir life long bicause she mocked hir husband Dauid when he daunced before the Arke so I praie God they be not as barren and voide of goodnesse that mocke at the professours of religion Againe let vs euermore hearken to the Lorde speaking in his worde Ierem. 38. 20. for then wee shall not bee burned with heate nor frozen with colde nor be ashamed of our youth or bee troubled with our age or repent our birth or curse the daie that wee came into the worlde for it shall shielde vs from all these mischiefes Oh let vs open our eares to his wordes that hee may open his eares to our praiers for as the Israelites were neuer blamed so long as they followed the cloud the pillar of smoke the Arke so shalt thou neuer be blamed if thou looke vpward to the Lord and ioyne thy selfe to the maine pillar of truth the church of God and followe the Arke which is the Gospell borne by the ministers or else thou shalt weepe and crie howle and repent at the last when thou canst not repent throughly Yee shall also knowe that I am in the middes of Israell and that I am the Lorde your God and none other and my people shall neuer be ashamed Nowe hee beginneth to follow the spirituall benefits from this vers to the ende of the chapter promising them first his presence vers 27 28 29. then his power in the verses to the ende His presence is promised first in regarde of the particular knowledge of his fauour resting among them vers 27. And in the two next verses by the powring out of his spirit And heereby we may first of all note that the church of God which is Israell hath the Lorde in hir continually Matth. 28. 19. Although by diuine power God bee present euery where yet is hee most present in the church in heauen and earth there doth hee shewe more power more mercy more iudgement more fauour then in other places I meane in that place where his Gospell is professed The first reason bicause in his church is his chiefe treasure Esay 33. 6. And as Christ saide to vs where our treasures are there are our harts so the Lordes heart and soule is lodged in his church where are his treasures namely his feare zeale faith knowledge redemption and the graces of the spirit and I woulde God men did not cast his treasure before the swine of their filthie sinnes Another reason bicause the power of darknes shall not preuaile against it Mat. 16. 18. For as the sunne doth breake awaie the cloudes and the north winde driue away the raine so doth the presence of God in his church breake in peeces the strength of diuels and driue away the rage of sinne And truely as when Lot went out of Sodom the valley was destroied so when God shall forsake his church it shal come to ruine Let vs learne to glorifie the Lorde in the church 1. Cor. 6. 20. for hee is not far off but in the middest of vs. Againe let vs also by the consideration of his dwelling among vs hold fast our hope of trust Heb. 3 6. that we be not confounded at the last The presence of Debora made Barac get the victorie against Sisera and his nine hundred charets of iron let vs not by the presence of a woman or man but God Almightie put to flight all our sinnes and lead our pleasures captiues that they may neuer more offend the church of God Secondly by this verse wee must note that it behooueth euerie member of the church to haue a particular knowledge of the Lordes fauour towarde him not onely that God is or that Christ died for the worlde but that God is their God and Christ is their redeemer 2. Cor. 5. 11. So that as Elisha woulde not forsake Elijah because hee was his master nor Ruth forsake Naomi because shee was hir stepmother nor Peter forsake Christ because hee was his Sauiour no more must wee forsake the Lorde for hee is our master our father our Sauiour and our God In this one point is included all religion for this is the ende of all profession that God may bee ours and wee may bee his The first reason because without this assurance of faith wee cannot please God Heb. 11. 6. So that whatsoeuer we do for companie or custome or perswasion or of vncertainty doth not please almightie God Againe if wee knowe not that GOD is in vs then are wee reprobates and then were it better for vs that wee had neuer so much as liued vnder the time of the Gospell Therefore let vs seeke the Lorde more ardently for as the brethren of Ioseph might not see his face anie more except they brought little Beniamin with them so may not wee appeere before GOD except wee bring this perswasion with vs. Gedeon slewe fortie two thousande because they coulde not rightly pronounce one worde but the Lorde will slay many millions that cannot say that hee is theirs Oh learne to say vnto God my father as Isaac did that he may answere vnto thee my sonne as Abraham did Againe let vs open the way that other men may come to the Lord as well as wee Isai 26. 2. for God keepeth not his kingdome to himselfe as Noah did not builde his arke for himselfe or Salomon his houses for himselfe nor the Apostles possessed the spirite for themselues onely and so let vs not conceale the Lordes fauour to our selues onely but
2. 8. Therefore as the olde fathers searched for saluation 1. Pet. 1. 19. so doe thou and as the woman did for her money which neuer gaue ouer sweeping and seeking till she had found it in like manner doe thou but follow saluation as Isaac followed Abraham vnto the place where he should be sacrificed Secondly when he saith that there shall bee deliuerance in Mount Sion wee may note that God will euermore haue some among the people of the Iewes that shall be saued Rom. 11. 15 16 26. so that notwithstanding their intolerable hardnesse of hart and great obstinacie against the Gospell yet there are some beleeuers among them and it may be that there shall be a day when they shall all beleeue in the Messiah and I thinke verily that this is the very cause why they are reserued aliue for else in consideration of that great villanie offered to our Sauiour Christ with their infidelitie and other notorious sinnes they had long agoe beene destroied man woman and childe Thirdly the prophet alleageth the proofe hereofwhen he saith as the Lord hath said whereby we may note that the promise of God shall preserue his church in what distresse soeuer it be Heb. 13. 5. yea when heauen and earth shall be burned they shall be preserued The reasons first because all the promises of God in him are Yea Amen 2. Cor. 1. 18. 20. they are not changeable but constant as it is already declared because he is mighty that doth his word Againe life eternall is giuen by promise Col. 3. 14. and if the promises neuer faile in that no more they can in this Therefore let vs through patience doe the will of God and waite for the promise Heb. 10. 26. and hauing once receiued it let vs feare no euill nor any death Gen. 32. 9 10. Fourthly when he saith that saluation shall be to a remnant and to as many as God shall call we may note that but a remant that is a very fewe shall bee saued Luc. 13. 23. The reasons because of the great hatred of God against sinne Rom. 5. 14. the which hatred shall cause the damnation of many thousands Secondly the Lord will make but a short account of all the earth Rom. 9. 28. Therefore let euery one studie to enter although he knowe there be but few to be saued that if it may be he may be one of those few Luc. 13. 24. Againe let vs knowe that except the Lord of his great mercie did keepe this remnant from the violence of sinne and sathan no not one should or coulde euer come to life eternall Isai 1. 9. Lastly when he saith to as many as God shall call wee may note that we must be called by the gospell before we can be saued in the kingdome Iude 5. But of these points I haue often already spoken in the former treatises and therefore I may the safer excuse my breuitie and the God of all mercie giue a blessing to all The xxxij Sermon Chap. 3. Verse 1. For beholde in those daies and in that time when I shall bring againe the captiuitie of Iudah and Ierusalem THis thirde and last chapter of this Prophet Ioel containeth a most lamentable destruction of mankind namely of those which were the sworne enimies to the church of God which cannot choose but mooue a heart of stone to exceeding sorrowe and abundant teares to consider that so manie braue men stately kings warrelike souldiers honorable persons rich possessors beautiful women and innocent yoong children as it may seeme shoulde be violently driuen and drawen vnto the slaughter-house of woefull destruction Oh how may men forrowe that they were so borne to bee enimies to God and so liue that they hurt themselues and so shall die as they condemne their soules for their bloode is woorse then water their flesh is viler then dung their heart is baser then the earth and they were onely created that they might be destroied In the handling of this chapter we will obserue this method First the time when the enimies of the church shall be discussed and secondly the manner The time is set foorth in this vers to bee then when the Lorde shoulde bring againe the captiuitie of Iudah and Ierusalem that is when he shoulde deliuer them from all manner of thraldome For beholde The prophet after the vsuall maner of the Scriptures beginneth the matter with wordes of demonstration and attention and so telleth them of this matter as if it were alreadie in action bidding them to beholde it as we may see the like Esay 24. 1. 42. 1. Ierem. 51. 1. Matth. 24. 25. By which wordes wee may note the worde of God in prophets and preachers must teach vs to consider as well the things that are to come as those that are present 2. Cor. 4. 18. Wee looke not saith the Apostle on the things that are seene but on the things that are not seene The voice of the Lordes worde must not be like the stroke of the musition which onely affecteth a man while hee heareth the sounde but it must bee like a Phisitions potion which worketh in the bodie many daies after it is taken But what doe I talke of daies as Ionathan loued Dauid when he neither saw him nor hearde him so must we loue the word of God and thinke thereon when we neither see it nor heare it The oxe careth for the pricke which presently goreth him but yet he neuer thinketh on the slaughter which is comming the childe feareth the rod which hee seeth but thinketh not on it when it is hidden the sheepe windeth from the storme when it bloweth but in calmer times it neuer remembreth but God which hath made vs more excellent then oxen and sheepe and willeth vs to be more wise then children hath giuen his worde that wee may know and feare the things that are to come So that in this sort thou must perswade thy selfe if thou heare the preacher tell of any plague then thinke with thy selfe that thou now beholdest it a far off therefore it will certainly come Beleeue the Lord and his prophets saide Iehoshaphat and you shall prosper but alas our dull hearted hearers will beleeue no more then they see will feare no more then they feele nor bee righteous any longer then they are in affliction Death is farre off they care not for it and the day of iudgement will be God knoweth when and therefore if their time be so long they thinke it will be neuer Oh wretches beholde presentlie before your eies how the Lorde commeth how the sword wasteth howe the bloude runneth howe vengeance encreaseth howe Christ condemneth and all thinges are ouerturned If thou canst so beholde the comming miseries and with teares lament them as if they were present thou shalt likewise by the worde of God so beholde the comming ioies of another life with hart reioice as if now thou
your soule whereby you may know it shall turne to your good and this you may haue although you lament with teares therefore plucke vp your sorrowfull mindes and put away your mourning garments for the time is at hand that your easeles daies shall be turned into painelesse rest and your carefull prayers into the ioyfull possession of life and glorie and angels and saints and God and Christ for euermore The xxxiij Sermon Vers 2. I will also gather all nations and will bring them downe into the valley of Iehoshaphat and will pleade with them there for my people and for mine heritage Israel whom they haue scattered among the nations and parted my land HAuing handled the time when the destruction of the churches enimies should be which was when they were deliuered from their captiuitie now it followeth that we pursue the manner of their destruction in this and in the verse following and for our more orderly proceeding we will first handle the causes of the Lords iudgement vpon them and secondly the execution thereof the causes expressed vers 2 3 4 5 6. And first before the causes the prophet noteth these two things their assemblie and the place thereof their assemblie in these words I will also gather c. the place he calleth the valley of Iehoshaphat When he saith that he will gather all nations he doth giue vs to vnderstand his infinite power that he can easily bring the whole world together Psal 50. 2 3. Dauid saith that he calleth them from the rising of the sunne vnto the setting thereof that as he could and did at the beginning create the whole worlde in one man so can he at the latter end bring them all together againe as one man How can the theefe escape him by riding or the whooremonger by keeping in a secret chamber or the swearer by creeping into a princes court or a king by lying in his strongest holde but as he brought all creatures to Adam that he might name them and seuen of euery cleane beast to Noah that hee might saue them so will hee bring all the worlde before his sonne that hee may iudge them The reasons are these first because hee doth it by his angels Matt. 24. 31. who are of infinite power and wisedome and celeritie and diligence One angell is stronger then all men as appeereth by that angel which killed of Saneheribs armie in one night an hundred fourescore and fiue thousand Isa 37. 36. yet for all this power we must not feare or worship the angels for they are but our fellowe seruants but rather let vs feare the creator of the angels for if hee haue giuen so much glorie to his angels oh how much hath he kept to himselfe and if he maketh them flames of fire himselfe must needes be a consuming fornace Another reason is this because all the worlde doe liue and mooue and haue their being in him Act. 17. 28. and therefore he may as easily bring euery one to iudgement as a man may lay his left hand in his right Oh how might this terrifie a great sort which liuing in God yet deny God as Absolon which woulde depose his owne father to make himselfe king The vses which wee may make hereof are these first that we auoide not and doe not flie from the presence of God as Ionah did Ion. 1. 3. for the Lorde will bring vs againe as he did him Whither wilt thou goe from the All-seeing spirite of God oh flie not from him for there is no heauen so high but he is higher nor any earth so deepe but he is deeper nor any world so wide but he is larger nor any place so secret but he can finde it out Abide in his temple for there is his presence and in his church for there he dwelleth Looke to him aboue looke on him beneath looke for him in the morning and runne to him in the euening Goe not out of the congregation for then thou runnest from him but abide the Lordes leisure for euermore But how might I complaine on them that runne away from God some runne from the faith some from the sermon some from our praiers some from our companie and some are gadding abroad in strange popish and paganish countries some goe to tauernes when they should goe to churches some to exercise of pleasure some are riding in the fields when they should be praying in the congregations and some are at the beare-baiting or play houses when they should serue the Lorde oh monstrous times that euer men liued in and they account themselues happie that neuer come where any goodnesse is If God correct them they are desperate if the lawe would punish them they are obstinate if the preacher rebuke them they are almost malice-mad What doe these men but flie from the presence of God for they will not goe to him they will not pray to him they will not liue with him they will not tarrie for him they will not see him they will not heare him but they shall surely feele him Although Tzedechiah would not abide the Babylonians but fled away by night yet they ouertooke him and brought him backe to their captaine who put out his eies and led him in chaines to Babylon so although you flie from the Lorde yet hee shall followe and gather you bee your companie neuer so great and depriue you of your best estate and leade you in chaines to the diuels in hell They are separated from God but you are worse then diuels for you separate your selues from God yet bee assured you shall shortly trie that it were better for you to followe Christ into the sea as Peter did then to forsake him on the land as Iudas did Into the valley of Iehoshaphat These wordes containe the place where the nations shoulde be gathered togither the which I take not to bee any speciall place much lesse the valley of Engedi 2. Chron. 20. 2. where Iehoshaphat by the helpe of God destroied the Ammonites Moabites and Edomites but rather by allusion to that place and battle hee sheweth what slaughter hee woulde make of his enimies But this worde Iehoshaphat may bee taken as well appellatiuely as properly so it signifieth the iudgement of God and therefore the valley of Iehoshaphat shall signifie the place of God his iudgement as afterwarde the valley of threshing shall signifie the execution thereof By the former words and by these we will obserue that the wicked shall bee drawen to iudgement whether they will or not Luke 23. 30. for God will gather them into the valley of iudgement As there is no force in the corne to resist the reaper so shall there bee no resistance in the wicked to auoide iudgement And this thing of all other may mightilie a stonish all deceitfull and infidell hearts which cannot abide to heare of iudgement yet they shall be compelled to come to iudgement Howe desperate is their estate when their conscience
shall bee more against them then all the worlde and their helpes of nature shall giue them ouer and they left destitute of all hope shall be deliuered into the hande of diuels and surely they which scorne the companie of God his saints on the earth are woorthie to bee torne by the teeth and clawes of diuels in hell But hast thou no grace to consider this before hand and to thinke with thy selfe howe thou shalt see an infinite companie of Angels driuing thee to iudgement and then presently all the diuels in hell haling thee to damnation Be willing therefore to come to God in earth that thou maiest bee desirous to goe to God in heauen for bee assured that if thou feare iudgement and wishest it might neuer be thou art in a pitifull case for thy conscience doth alreadie condemne thee and if thou despise iudgement and watch not for it thou art more retchlesse for thou resistest God but if thou crie for the last day and say Come Lorde Iesus come quickly thou art a happie man for the Lorde is in thee Christ hath clensed thee sinne is dying in thee thou louest God his kingdome and therefore thou shalt possesse his kingdome Oh that we coulde willinglie submit our hearts to the Gospell and then shoulde wee not vnwillingly offer our soules to iudgement The reasons of this doctrine are these First because they shall be compelled by the power of God Matth. 26. 64. They which will not feele the power of God in sauing them shal feele it in condemning them and therfore as the power of God made Pharaoh to yeeld to Moses and Aaron and made Sisera to yeelde to Deborah and made Goliah to yeelde to Dauid and made the temple to rende a sunder when Christ was crucified and the sunne to loose hir light shall compell the wicked to the iudgement seate of God Another reason is bicause their hope for helpe or mercie or pardon is but in vaine Lam. 4. 17. And therefore although they woulde escape yet their hope shall deceiue them as the mother and wife of Sisera which told of the victorie when in the ende it turned to their owne ouerthrow I doe but briefly touch these things bicause I haue handled them more at large alreadie The vses which arise from hence are these First that wee come willinglie to the throne of grace Rom. 5. 2. or else we shall be vnwillingly drawne to the throne of wrath Come to all godlie exercises ioyfully heare the Gospell diligently reade the scriptures zealously loue the godly tenderly and praie to the Lorde comfortablie and then shalt thou come to grace not to wrath to glorie not to shame to life not to death to heauen not to hell Make no excuses for thy absence admit no delaies for thy hinderance suffer no temptations for thy allurement and let not the wife of thy youth keepe thee from praier and the throne of grace Feare God more than loue the worlde hate euill more than loue thy wife Saie vnto all cumbrancers awaie from mee for I will keepe the Gospell of my God I had rather loose my finger than my hande my haire than my heade my bodie than my soule my friendes than my GOD. I will feare the Lorde before wrath that I may reioice in iudgement Againe let vs learne to acknowledge and perswade our selues of this terror of God 2. Cor. 5. 11. for except wee consider before hande howe the heauens shall be consumed howe the earth shall bee burned howe the worlde shall bee ended and howe the Lorde shall be manifested the Gospell will be but a weake worde and an idle tale vnto vs But if thou canst beleeue the last iudgement and with the eie of faith beholde it a farre off and tremble at the secret meditation thereof then thou maiest easily feele the power of life vnto life and happily forsake the sentence of death Therefore euermore remember iudgement at thy feast in thy bed on thy table in the morning at thy labour before thy sleepe and with thy friendes that thou and they be not of the kindreds of the earth which shall waile and lament before the comming of Christ Reuel 1. 7. There will I pleade with them Hauing finished the gathering togither of the wicked into the place of iudgement now it remaineth that wee goe on to the causes of their destruction which the Lord heere openeth as pleaders do in their courts at the law and therefore he saith that he will plead with them for his people alluding to the manner of worldly iudgements so that heere wee may see that the Lord is both iudge counsellor for his church which may greatly comfort vs and discomfort our enimies for the Lord who is to tally for vs and eagerly against them hath the whole law in his owne hand But in this that he saith he will plead with them we may note that God will open all the sinnes of the wicked in iudgement Eccles 11. 9. For pleaders will not omit any thing which may discredit their aduersarie or the cause against which they speake yea they will suspect those things which they cannot gainesay and condemne those things very peremptorily which they can any way blemish In like sort the Lord when he shall draw thee to iudgement will there open all thy life and tell thy secret whooredome thy hidden theft thy often blasphemies thy idle words thy vaine expences thy proud gestures thy idle worship thy friend-pleasing vanitie and all thy hypocrisie Thy charitie he will defame with vaine-glorie thy prayers hee will account abhomination thy fasting he will call dissembling and thy gentle nature shall be accounted a flattering vertue All this will hee bring to iudgement hee will prooue it by thy conscience he will condemne it by his Gospell and he will punish it by condemnation oh then shall thy faults be written in thy forehead that al may know them and thy priuie doings blowen with a trumpet that all may heare them and thy forsworne sinnes opened by a crier that all may loath them Oh wretched wretches which had rather abide this iudgement of God then that which is in this life but if thou haue any meanes to perswade thy soule vnto goodnes or to terrifie thy flesh from euill let this helpe it forward that God shal open all thy faults at the day of iudgement and discredit all thy vertues be they neuer so many or neuer so glorious Thinke not that thy good deedes shall ouercome thy euil but as one blemish disfigureth a whole bodie so one sinne will disgrace a whole bodie of vertues The reasons of this doctrine are these because the counsell of euerie hart shall then be manifested whether it be good or euill 1. Cor. 4 5. and if the counsels of men be opened much more their sinnes Another reason is because they are remembred before God Reuel 20. 12. and if all the sinnes of the wicked be in the Lords
continuall sight and remembrance then shal they not be forgotten or couered when the number shall be rehearsed And surely me thinkes that the conscience of this matter should mightily terrifie our natures from sin seeing that all our offences are continually in the Lords memorie Some thinke that because the time is long since they committed adulterie or sacriledge or theft or drunkennes or idolatrie now God hath forgotten it and it shall neuer more be laide to their charge But they must knowe that a thousande yeeres are with the Lorde as one day seeing that is past as a watch in the night and therfore the Lord doth as well remember their old committed sinnes as a watchman remembreth who came by him in the night their childish vanitie their youthful wantonnes their sinfull sporting their filthie resting their babish trifling and their merrie pastimes are fresh before the Lord 1. Sam. 15. 1 2 3. The Lord telleth Samuel that he remembreth what Amalek did to Israell Exod. 17. how he was the first that bid them to battle after they came out of Egypt and therefore commandeth Saul to destroy them man woman and childe This was many hundred yeeres after the acte committed and the iniurie offered yet God thinketh vpon it although they had beene alreadie well punished for it And so doth he remember how thou hast oppressed the poore long ago how many acres thou hast encroched how many pounds thou hast gathered by vsurie how many mens cattle thou hast bought by extortion and finally how often in thy yonger dayes thou were negligent to sanctifie the sabbaoth If thy sinnes might fall from thy life as thy teeth in age doe fall from thy mouth thou were happie or if thy life could be chaunged into holines as thy old yeeres turne thy blacke haire into whitenes blessed were thou but alas thy strength faileth thy beautie fadeth thy life weareth thy hand weakeneth thy blood dryeth thy head chaungeth and thy whole bodie stoopeth to the earth yet thy wickednes remaineth vntouched and vnblasted as the Iuie which is thickest and greenest when it hath killed and withered the great oake The vse which commeth of this doctrine is the same that the most wise preacher that euer was taught vs Eccles 12. 13. That seeing God woulde bring euery secret worke into iudgement therefore feare him and keepe his commaundements Howe many waies wee are taught to feare the Lorde appeereth in the former sermons and therefore it were needlesse to vrge this exhortation any farther in this place But if we consider that if it be such a shame to endure the speeches of friendes and enemies in this life for the faultes we haue committed how much more ought wee to blush before the Lord with all the angels of heauen and all the men that euer were are or shall be in the world when at the latter day our faultes shall bee opened when euery one shall hisse at our filthinesse and laugh at our wickednesse Oh confesse thy selfe to a fewe in this world rather then deferre to bee reuealed before all in the ende of the world Thinke not that thy owne estate will be any thing more tolerable because all other men shall haue their faultes also ripped vp and repeated for the more the worse a Iudge will bee more easily entreated for one then for twentie and therefore God will be lesse partiall because so many shall be found guiltie feare not shame but death abstaine not from sinne for the worldes sake but for the Lords sake and let not other mens voices more appalle thee then the sentence of God It hath beene heretofore and shall be hereafter more manifestly shewed that God doth no more spare a multitude then a man or many then one and therefore neuer flatter thy selfe in the matter but onely vse the time and these admonitions that God may forget thy sinnes and then they shall bee forgiuen thee and if they bee forgiuen they shall not bee opened but silenced at the latter day For although we shall then heare of the murder that Cain did of the mocking that Ismael did of the filthinesse that Er and Onan did of the rebellion of Absolon and the treason of Iudas yet wee shall not heare of Noahs drunkennesse or Lots incest or Iosephs oath or Moses vnfaithfulnesse or Dauids adulterie or Peters deniall or of any of the faultes of the elect for their sinnes shall remaine in the graue when their bodies are raised vp to the ioy of another life The xxxiiij Sermon FOr my people In these words we may obserue that God will iudge the world for the iniuries done to his church and for nothing more Psal 9. 17. for hee will then open the counsels thou hast conceiued against the godly how many stripes thou hast giuen them how many times thou hast reuiled them how many waies thou hast oppressed them how often thou hast imprisoned them and how many thou hast murdered of them He will aske thy poore neighbour howe thou didst releeue him howe often thou didst lend him how much vsurie thou tookest of him how many times thou didst harbour him and with what affection of hart thou didst embrace him I graunt that he will open thy other sinnes and condemne thee for them but yet the speciall cause why he sitteth in iudgement at the latter day with all the world before him is that he may make inquisition for the blood of his saints and iustifie his children whom the world condemned The reasons are First because he is the life of the faithfull Col. 3. 4. Secondly because this doth shew his righteousnes 2. Thess 1. 6 7. when he doth acquite the faultlesse and condemne the guiltie The vses which wee may make thereof are these First that wee neuer grieue any of the saints of God Psal 105. 15. when Iehu was to kill all the prophets of Baal he bad them search diligently for the seruants of God and be sure that there were not one among them to be hurt This care ought men to haue of the least and basest in the church that they prouoke them not to complaine vpon them to the Lord for surely if the poorest member of Christ that liueth among vs doe iustly complaine of the greatest Lord and potentate of the world vnto the God of heauen it were better for that Lord that a milstone were tyed about his necke and he were cast into the sea Againe seeing it is so dangerous to offer any violence to any of the Lords children let vs abide in the Lord Iesus Ioh. 2. 28. and then will he reuenge our cause for hee cannot forget his owne stripes and for his sake are we buffeted disdained and mocked and reuiled persecuted martyred and therefore by him shall we be defended reuenged vpō them If we be of the Lords body we cannot hurt the Lords members therfore they which persecute the church speak euil of the poore are none of the
Lords family Whom they haue scattered amōg the nations We haue alreadie shewed that one principall part of a captiuitie was the scattering and dispersing abroad of the people into many countries where they shoulde neuer gather strength or hope to returne home againe This is the first cause why the wicked are thus iudged bicause they scattered abroad the seede of Iacob that it might die and neuer growe for so is the meaning of the word Whereby wee may obserue that the wicked are neerest to destruction when they most of all triumph ouer the godly as heere we may see the first cause of their condemnation is the scattering of Israell So the Lorde affirmeth by the prophet Esay 49. 25. that when the mightie were at the pray and the tyrant at the spoile then will the Lorde come and spoile them but deliuer his children The lion and the Beare that Dauid slewe might haue escaped with pray and life if they had not medled with Dauids lambes and so the wicked might escape damnation if they coulde refraine from biting of the Lordes sheepe But seeing then they are at the brimme of destruction when they are in the highest of their mischiefe O vnhappie men which die assoon as they conceiue pleasure The reasons of this doctrine are these First bicause they helpe to aggrauate the euill vpon the poore saints of God Zech. 1. 15. I did it a little saith the Lorde but thou didst it much more so they make our faults greater then they are and giue vs more stripes then God hath appointed them therefore doth the Lorde so suddenly destroy them Beware how thou accuse a good man although thou doe it iustly for if thou make it anie thing more it shall redound to thy owne danger Againe when the poore and good men are most oppressed by the wicked then the Lord ariseth to heare their crie Psal 12. 5. and when he ariseth he commeth with all wrath to recompence the iniurie And as alreadie I haue warned so I must againe and againe make not a good man complaine on thee to God for thy oppression for the Lorde hath more delight to reuenge the cause of one that is helpelesse and friendlesse then of ten thousande that are able to defende their owne businesse and in my choise I had rather be vniustlie accused of treason to my prince then by a godlie man to be iustly complained for iniurie vnto God The vses of this doctrine are these First that we comfort our selues in the destruction of the wicked Isaie 62. 1. For although wee are not to reioice at their ouerthrowe for our owne sakes yet for the Lordes cause by whom they are ouerturned we may lawfully and ioifully be comforted for their ende For God doth then take them when they are in their deepest mischiefe and when they purpose to execute their most deadly malice None can knowe it but God bicause none shoulde haue the praise for their ouerthrowe but God Therefore it is a vile thing for any to lament the losse of wicked men the enimies of God for their life is not to be desired that liue not for the benefite of the Lordes household Although Dauid lamented Saul and Absolon yet that maketh not against this doctrine for Dauid lamented Saul because he had vndone himselfe and lost the glorie of the fielde and Absolon bicause so kinde a father coulde not chuse but be mooued for the vtter condemnation of the fruite of his loines But this is most lamentable that euen in our daies there are yet some that lament the ouerthrow of God his enimies the Pope and Spanish forces and it grieueth them that so many cardinals and mitred fathers so many abbots and shaueling friers are cleane driuen out of England whereas if these had continued the Gospell of Christ must haue beene banished As well might Moses and all Israell lament the ouerthrow of Pharaoh and the Egyptians in the sea which they reioiced at as these lament the ouerthrow of papists and poperie for which they shoulde be thankefull and I praie God giue vs shortly as good cause to reioice against all Atheists and idolaters Another vse is this that wicked men learne to knowe their owne danger for woe bee vnto them that laugh for they shall lament Luke 6. 25. Blesse not thy selfe when euery one honoureth thee as they did Haman for presently hee fell to the gallowes Exalt not thy selfe bicause others praise thee as they did Herod for by and by he was deuoured of wormes fret not thy selfe because others deserue better then thou as did Saul with Dauid for hee fell into a lunacie followe not anie man nor anie cause with a desire to oppresse as Saneherib did for the Angels of God destroied his hoste and his owne sonnes made an ende of his life And parted my lande Another point of a captiuitie is the taking away of the lande from the possessors thereof for we must not thinke that if the Lorde shoulde suffer an inuasion that men shoulde escape with a tribute but rather their houses and lands should be distributed to strangers Their demesnes their free-holdes their mannors their copieholds their rents their knights-fees and all other their possessions shall bee quite and cleane taken from them which the conquerors challenge by lawe of armes But this is woorthy to be noted that notwithstanding this lawe of armes God alleageth this parting of the land and dispossessing the ancient inheritors thereof to be one cause why the wicked should be iudged they woon it in deede but yet they are called to an account for it By which we may obserue that it is not lawfull in warres so to triumph ouer the godly and their possessions as it is ouer other men Tzeph 2. 8 9. although the king of Syria had triumphed against Amath Sepharuaim Iua and many other countries and kingdoms and cities yet when once he came to touch Ierusalem and to raile vpon Ezechiah he and all his host were quickly dispatched and in like sort when the wicked come to deale tyrannously with the church of God and put them to extremities then doth the Lorde take their cause into his owne hand The Spaniards boast of wonderfull countries which they haue conquered among the silly heathen and barbarous Indians which may well be so but what haue they gotten in these partes of the world which are the beloued Ierusalem of the Lord surely nothing but blowes for here they loose more men at the siege of a towne then there in the conquest of a countrie and therefore they may teach vs that such barbarous crueltie as they haue vsed among the Indians and such tyrannie as they would haue practised in the Lowe-countries must not bee offered to any Christian nations but rather as Dauid was glad that Absolon his sonne had lost the fielde yet was hee sorrie that he was slaine so must wee reioice if God giue a Christian enemie into our hande and yet be
sorrie if any blood beshed or any violence bee executed in his ouerthrowe But I knowe some will say how shall wee warre against the papists may we not triumph with all manner of warlike and lawfull ioy at their ouerthrowe as we would doe against heathens Surely I answere we may so warre with them as with idolators not with heathens and so to triumph in their conquest as Iudah was woont against Israel that is being prouoked by them to trie it to the vttermost and to spare no person that is an aduersarie yet to suffer the remnants to enioy their countrie if they will embrace the truth and forsake idolatrie The reasons of this doctrine are these first because as men spoile the godly so shall they bee spoiled againe Ier. 30. 16. Againe good men are at peace in the land and therefore it were crueltie to rage against the peaceable And therefore make this account that God will reuenge the iniurie offered to his people vpon the children and childrens children of them that were the workers thereof Isa 13. 16. As Dauid commaunded Salomon that he should not suffer the hoare head of Ioab to go into the graue in peace because he had slaine two men more righteous then himselfe in the time of peace so God will not suffer them to come in peace to their graues that haue had any hand against the righteous of the world Learne therefore as the Prophet exhorteth Ierem 39. 12. that in warres or in any common slaughter thou euer vse gentlenes to them that thou shalt know haue liued godly And therefore in all the warres betwixt Iudah and Israell you shall neuer read of a priest or prophet of the Lord to be slaine but they were slaine in the time of peace when men were wearie of the word of God Be a valiant souldier but bee also a mercifull christian if any yeeld himselfe then giue not his life to thy sword Remember that glorie doth not onely dwell in fighting and killing but in ouercomming and if thou ouercome by any means or stratagems thy conquest is neuer the lesse Spare them that pray for thee for all christians pray one for another and as the King of Syria fought no more after he had ouercome Ahab but let all Israell goe home in peace so after thou hast ouercome the principall actors and procurers of the warre then let the residue goe scotfree Thinke also that the warres are mutable and if they giue thee victorie at one time yet they may let thee be conquered at another time and therefore so spare as thou wouldest bee spared and as Abner would haue perswaded Asahel Ioabs brother to depart from him because he should slay him and then would Ioah be wroth with him so if words may pacifie thy enimie rather vse them then weapons And as I would haue thee deale in warres so thou must deale in peace that thou take not euerie aduantage against thy brother but spare him when thou hast him in thy hand whether it be in combate or in suite at the law or in complaint before a magistrate or in any extremitie Do thou nothing against him but let the law do all rather silence some bitter things then inuent any new occasions of strife and to the vttermost of thy endeuour labour to buy peace although it cost thee deerely for whether thou winne or lose thou shalt be polluted by trouble The xxxv Sermon ANd they haue cast lots This is another cause why the Lord doth enter into so sharpe a iudgement against the wicked and that is as you see bicause they vsed them most vilely and not onely them but the holie ordinance of God which is casting of lots So that they as it were plaied at dice for the people of God they cared not who wonne them nor howe they greeued them for it coulde not choose but offend them to see the lottery made vpon them which God had appointed for another vse But in this that they cast lots for the people of God and the lot beeing the verie ordinance of God not to bee vsed in sport or pastime wee may note that euill and ignorant men doe profane and abuse euery thing yea though in it selfe it be neuer so good Tit. 1. 15. To euill men and defiled all thinges saith the Apostle are polluted their toonges are adders speares their lips are instruments of guile their handes worke iniquitie and their feete runne to euill and shed blood and if they thus abuse their naturall parts what will they doe with the spirituall benefits Oh it greeueth my hart to tell you for their praiers they vse to curse and banne them with whom they are angrie their knowledge they abuse to beguile and deceiue the simple and vnstable soules they will haue the Scriptures to couer their profanenesse and when they be espied they say they can approoue their sinnes by holie warrant Oh damnable blasphemie they vse their wits to cauill their wealth to oppresse their strength to steale their friendes to bolster out their offences and their naturall wisedome to maintaine their vnnaturall blasphemie they are hungrie to be gluttons they are thirsty to be drunkards they are clothed to be proud they are honored to be disdainful they are wel borne that they may liue ill vncontrolled with a thousand such like enormities which we may find in the cōtinual practise of the wicked they abuse their marriage for lust their children for couetousnesse their offices for bribing their ministerie for reprehension their lawe for delay of truth the day for open euill and the night for secret shame If a good man fall into their hands they wil vse him scurrilously the holy worde of God either they despise or wrest damnablie the ordinances of God they profane wickedly and the societie of men they dishonour shamefully and yet still they liue and still shall liue that they may so abuse death as they haue abused life that as they make life a time of sinne so they may finde death a day of destruction The reasons of this doctrine are these First because they are blinded of the diuell 2. Corint 4. 4. And therefore they cannot see so much as that which nature teacheth for the diuell neuer ceaseth to toule on a man till hee haue made him defie the grace of God and to defile the nature of man Another reason is bicause such is the poison of sinne that it defileth the very garments of a man and the walles of a house Iud. 23. wherefore it will worke more effectually in man who is a more meete and apt subiect for the same The vses which come of this doctrine are these First that we learne to discerne a man that is thus giuen ouer to abuse verie lawfull thinges woe be to them saith the prophet that speake euill of good and good of euill Isai 5. 20. For men in this estate will not sticke to commende any kinde of filthinesse because
they woulde faine bring all vnto filthines And if euer there were times of such practise nowe they are for sinne is become kinde and religion turned away naked We haue heresie and blasphemie and paganisme and bauderie committed to the presse to bee commended in print there is no Italian tale so scurrilous or fable so odious or action so abhominable but some haue aduentured to defende the same Plaies on the Sabbaoth are made lawfull to be sometime a companion of euill is good policie whoredome with some is good phisicke and no man can be a good member in his countrey except hee thinke well of himselfe Honestie is foolerie knauerie is commoditie dissembling is discretion and idlenesse is gentrie Oh my soule come not in their habitation bearding of the ministerie and clipping their liuings is but enimitie to poperie racking of rents is good husbandrie wicked scoffing is a token of a good wit and common iesting at God scriptures goodnesse and good men is but solace I tel you nothing but that I haue read in print and heard with my eares Gaming is as lawfull as labour and money so gotten is well gotten Men may be saued without preaching and faith commeth not by hearing papistes liue better then protestants bicause they giue more to the poore and the worlde will neuer bee well till the ministers be turned to tenne poundes stipende and a cloake Woe bee vnto them for they followe the waie of Balaam who for a little money woulde haue cursed the people of God And I praie GOD either purge our times from these men or take these monsters from among vs. They haue giuen the child Here is another cause of their condemnation for that they had sold a childe for a harlot harken I beseech you if euer you heard of the like mischiefe or more base and beastly part of a man then to take a young childe well borne and godly brought vp and to giue him for the price of a harlot Harlots in those times had a speciall desire vnto boies and young youthes whome they bought and made eunuches but this villanie to bee done to the Iewes the people of God that their holy seede shoulde bee the hire of so vnholy businesse it coulde not choose but make the people that heard it to rende their haires from their head For it might be they had a farther reach in selling their children for a whoore because it was commaunded that the price of a harlot should neuer come to the Lordes tabernacle and therefore they gaue their children for this price that for euer they might vndoe them But whatsoeuer mooued them thereunto they did it and therefore we are herein giuen to vnderstande that wicked men set more by their lust then by any good man in the world A good man saith Salomon Prou. 29. 27. is an abhomination to the wicked They had rather haue a harlot then a Christian as Herod that cut off Iohn Baptists head to please his whoore Mar. 6. Would or could a man haue beleeued this if God himselfe had not told vs of it truely no if we had seene it with our eies yet such I feare me we haue among vs that if time shall serue them they wil bee forwarde ynough to spende our goods and consume our liuings and when they bee gone they will sell our wiues and children to harlots or heathens or to any that will giue them any money for vs. O England England looke to thy welfare Thy goodly men thy braue women thy sweete children and thy rich possessions will all fall to the handes of an enimie What will they not doe to the olde that thus deale with the young to the parents which thus vndoe their children Giue not your selues to too much marrying and marriages as they did in the daies of Noah for here you may see the price of the fruit of your bodie begotten in sinne and giuen for sinne sinne selleth them to sathan and men sell them to harlots that as they were borne in a bodie of sinne so they might bee brought vp in a schoole of filthinesse O wicked sellers O wretched buiers O vnhappie wares that are thus exchanged to fulfill beastlinesse The reasons of this doctrine are these first because they are inceassable and vnsatisfiable in their Iustes 2. Pet. 2. 14. and therefore they care not what they doe to performe their lustes Another reason is because they are louers of pleasures more then louers of God 2. Tim. 3. 4. and such haue wee in our daies if loue may bee esteemed by the worke as Maries was by her oile for these are the latter daies of which Paul speaketh The vses which we may make of this doctrine are these first that we consider the miserable estate of these kinde of men who as the Apostle saith 2. Pet. 2. 13. shall receiue the wages for their pleasure And if Sichem for rauishing of one woman lost his owne life his fathers and all his citizens Gen. 34. what shall be the rewarde of these men that haue defiled themselues and many women O dangerous euils that hang ouer their heads And that which is said against this pleasure may be saide against all other kindes of pleasures that they shall euery one receiue their rewarde as Cain for his wrath was cursed Laban for his oppression was empouerished Dauid for his lust was troubled by his owne sonnes and Iosiah for his boldnesse lost his life so shall euery one that taketh pleasure in drunkennesse or whooredome or idlenesse or quarrelling or murther or brauerie or belly-cheere receiue the hire of all their pleasures Againe let vs learne to make precious account of the seede of the faithfull and suffer them not to want any comfort for God hath promised to be a friende to their friends and an enemie to their enemies Offer them no violence no not in their infancie for Ioseph who was solde by his brethren was at length able to bee reuenged vpon them And so it may come to passe that as twigs come in time to be trees so children come in time to be men and then beware your olde iniuries bee not repaied by them for that which is conceiued young will hardly be remooued olde I see in many places the posteritie of good and godly men yea of those that haue suffered very much for the gospels sake to be accoūted no better than vagabonds and roagues and I feare that men woulde bee content to send them into the farthest parts of the world and to sell them to any Spaniard papist or infidel rather than to help their estate and keepe them according to their qualitie And solde your girles for wine This is another cause why the Lord dealeth thus rigorously with his enimies bicause they had solde away the women children for cups of wine which was as much among them as a cup of drinke among vs. Whereby wee may note that wicked men make no reckoning of the godly Amos 8.
old Eli it is the Lord let him do what he wil let him take my goods for he gaue them let him haue my children for hee made them let him remooue my health for he sent it let him chaunge my friends for he wonne them let him trouble my conscience for he can giue it peace and let him take away my soule for he can giue it saluation The vses that we may make hereof are these First that we waite patiently vpon the Lord Psal 37. 7. we shal see in the end our harts desire cōmit our whole care to his protection who is able wil be willing to effect the same Waite patiently for there is no master so kinde but hee hath some attendance of his seruant and therefore how canst thou be the seruant of God if thou neuer attend vpon him A good seruant of a willing minde doth obey his maister euen in those things that are hard to be perfourmed and so although it be hard for thee yet endure the calamitie that somewhat presseth and oppresseth thee Naamans seruants said to him that the Prophet bid him but a small thing that was wash and be cleane and then he washed and was cleansed and so I say vnto you it is but a small thing I exhorte you waite and you shall be eased Oh that I might perswade any sicke man to waite for health or any poore man to waite for reliefe or any old man to waite for death or any yoong man to waite for Christ happie were I but more happie were they that so could be taught to be so cured Waite in the morning for a blessing and in the day for a comfort and in the night for a light in the morning that thou maist worke in the day that thou maist continue and in the night that thou maist receiue thy reward oh tarrie but a little while and thou shalt see an end of all miserie Another vse of this doctrine is this that we take heede how we by our wrath prouoke the wrath of the holy Ghost against vs and so grieue the spirit by whom we are sealed We were farre better let our soules goe foorth of our bodies then let the Spirit goe foorth of our soules I meane it were better for vs to die then to liue without the holy Ghost Yea let vs eate sorrow as we eate meate and grieue our consciences rather then grieue the holy Ghost Dauids seruants were afraid to tell him of the death of his childe because it would grieue him oh therefore let vs be more afraid to grieue the Spirit of God then they were to grieue the king of Israell Now if thy sinnes be reprooued amend them if thy life be threatned abide it if thy goods be wasted fret not at it if thy enimies reioice at thee bee not desperate if thou be offended sweare not rashly if thou be punished curse not outwardly and if thou be accused yet answer not bitterly grieue not the spirit of promise For ye haue taken my siluer and my gold This is the fifth cause specified in their enditement for the which the Lord calleth them to iudgement for that they ransacked his temple and tooke away all his golde and siluer which was appointed for his seruice and carried into their idoll-temples whatsoeuer was ordained for the performing of his worship And first of all we may obserue in this place that whatsoeuer hath been lawfully giuen and appointed vnto the maintenance of religion can neuer bee taken away againe or else in vaine had the Lord blamed these infidels for that in their lawfull conquest they had spoiled his temple also and this selfesame thing doe the godly complaine of Psal 74. 6 7. So that if any lands haue beene giuen or any houses haue beene builded or any priuileges haue beene graunted or any money haue beene deliuered for the furtherance of the Lordes worship it is sacrilege to transferre them violently or couetously or craftily to any other vses Oh how shall they be iudged that liue vpon the spoile of the church and share the Lords portion so neere and so narrow that they haue made it too little to fit his glorie Doe they not knowe that the Lorde shall call them to a reckoning for his siluer and his golde and then oh then how deere wil their daintie fare their silken suites their veluet slippers their french-hoods their golden borders and their blew-coate-hirelings cost them that they haue gained and maintained by the robberie of churches The reasons of this doctrine are these first because the goods of the church are holy things 2. Chron. 20. 19. and therefore not to be prophaned which is then done when they are withdrawen from the Lords seruice For certainly although in substance the golde and treasure of the church be the same that all other is of as the water and the bread and wine in the sacraments in substance bee all one with other water wine and bread yet in regarde of the vse there is a difference for they are made holy by dedication and therefore as it were horrible villanie to abuse the elements in the sacraments so is it execrable robberie to prophane the treasure of the church Another reason is this because if it were not lawfull for Ananias and Saphira vnder pretence of religion to sell their land as if they would haue giuen it to the church and yet kept away part thereof Act. 5. 4. then is it much more vnlawfull to keepe away any part from the church which we neuer gaue but it was rightly the churches possession before wee were borne And the vses which may be made hereof may bee these first that these church-robbers and sacrilegious persons knowe that the iudgement of God doth continually hang ouer their head as often as euer they abuse and take any of these hallowed and sanctified treasures as it did ouer Belshazzar Dan. 5. 3 5. who was then sentenced to destruction when he was drinking wine in the cups of the temple And surely we were better weare camels haire for our garments as Iohn Baptist did and haue not a house to rest our heads vpon as Christ had not and lappe vp our drinke as Gedeons soldiers did out of the running streame then so to be clothed and lodged and delicately nourished with the goods of the church and the curse of the Lorde What though some kings of Iudah did buy peace with them and Dauid did eate of the shew-bread yet they did it for necessitie to maintaine the common-wealth and to preserue life and so verily I thinke may be done nowe But blessed be God we neuer yet tasted of the like necessitie and so long as there shall be one penny of money or one foote of land in the possessions of priuate men so long must the treasurie of the church be left vntouched O yee gentlemen and rich men and vnhappie men which haue filled your priuate cofers with the Apostles
away their children whom they had taken prisoners vnto heathens and infidels as the Lord here saith that the Iewes should sell them to the Sabeans who were infidels First for the opening of this place it was lawfull for the Iewes so to doe because they had the expresse commaundement of God as it is here set downe and if at the commaundement of God they must in their warres kill man woman and childe much more at his commaundement may they sell their prisoners to heathens Secondly wee must not make this place any rule or example for vs to imitate but take it for a speciall curse vpon the enemies of the Iewes at this time because they should sell them as they had sold theirs Then to the question I thinke it not lawfull for vs to sell any vnto heathens yea though they be heathens and our enemies The reasons are these first because Deut. 20. 11 12. the Lord propoundeth an euerlasting lawe for warre standing vpon these conditions first that they offer peace secondly if they ouercome their enimies then shall they make them their tributarie seruants and not sell them away or if they refuse peace being offered then shall they destroy them all so then selling of men and women becommeth barbarous and heathen men and not the children of God Secondly by selling away our enimies wee doe not weaken the common enemie of our faith but rather strengthen him for a bond-slaue can fight as well against the gospell as a free man therefore it is better to slay them outright than to make a gaine of them vnto heathens or men of no faith Thirdly it is not lawfull to sell them because it is an vnnaturall thing for one man to buie another or to sell another as we may see in the historie of Ioseph Fourthly they were better bee among vs and bee the least in our congregation where they may possibly come to learne Iesus Christ than to be among heathens where Christ is hated and so I cannot see how wee can wash our hands cleane from the guilt of their damnation So that now it appeereth that men must looke especially that they vndoe not those whom the Lord hath commended to their safetie and preseruation besides many other reasons which I could adde vnto the former And againe by this verse we may see how the children of the wicked beare their fathers faultes for here are the sonnes and daughters to bee solde so may wee reade Psal 127. 9. that they are blessed that reuenge the fathers crueltie on the children Oh my deere brethren let your tender babes procure pitie and pietie in your soules for you see how their liues shall pay for your wrongs and their butcherie for your tyrannie It were an easier calamitie if the hand that sinned should onely be cut off but wee see that if the right hand slay a man the whole body must perish thereby It is a singular blessing of God to be descended of godly parents yea the wicked brag thereof Ioh. 8. 39. Matt. 3. 9. Therefore if you will make your posteritie happie and blessed make your owne soules godly and your works holy Let not your children be made slaues to the wicked and bondslaues to the diuell for your follie but be you gentle that they may liue bee you patient that they may be beloued bee you honest that they may bee honoured and be you good to the godly that they may possesse your reuenues Publish this among the Gentiles prepare warre wake vp the mightie men let all the men of warre drawe neere and come vp Nowe are wee come to the second meanes whereby the Lorde taketh vengeance on the enimies of his church that is by warre for as by warre they had wasted the Iewes so by warre shoulde themselues be confounded In this warre we are to consider First the preparation thereof by souldiers verse 9. then the instruments or weapons verse 10. Secondly the execution in the verses following First then in this verse he calleth for the souldiers and biddeth that the warre shoulde be proclaimed and that all the men fitted thereunto shoulde come vp to fight Whereby wee must first of all obserue that warre must bee proclaimed before it be waged Ios 22. 12. For it becommeth not anie prince or great person so to deale with his enimies that he ouercome them before they haue intelligence of him The reason First bicause peace must be first of all offered Deuter. 20. 10. For warre which is the slaughter of mankinde must be the last meanes for princes to right and trie their iniuries It must be taken in hande for necessitie not for pleasure and it must bee executed with mercie not with crueltie Another reason bicause victorie onely dependeth on God 2. Chron. 13. 12. and therefore wee must vse all good meanes in the vndertaking thereof least beginning without the Lordes counsell wee ende with his curse being guiltie of our own death others Let vs not then in this latter age of the world fear any of the rumours of warre Mat. 24. 6. for the Lord of hostes is the great warriour whose souldiers wee are and if hee can vse the roaring of the diuell to driue vs from hell then thinke also he will vse the trumpets of warre to bring vs into heauen Feare not I say all the rumours of warre in France Flanders Hungarie Turkie or in other places of the worlde for if the wicked die in them it is for sinne if good men by the punishment for sinne they kill sinne and all this shall promote the Gospell and preserue the church Secondly when he biddeth to awake the mightie men we may note that men of greatest courage and valour are fit for the warres 2. Sam. 10 9. But of this matter we haue spoken in the second chapter Againe when he calleth them to draw neer and to come vp we note that souldiers should beware that they haue a calling from God and a commandement from him to fight 1. King 22. 7. Iehoshaphat woulde not fight with Ahab against the Syrians till hee had inquired of the Lorde and this wee may see in Dauid many times For seeing warres are the cause of many mens death let vs beware that we adde not curse to curse like the king of Moab who being ouercome by the Israelites went home and sacrificed his owne sonne in the fire The reasons are First because they cannot prosper that waite not for the Lordes calling Ios 1. 17 18. Secondly he giueth power to fight Psalm 18. Let vs therefore bee so minded in warres that wee neuer vndertake them when the Lorde disalloweth them Numb 14. 44 45. The Israelites fighting with the Amorites contrarie to the Lordes wil were slaine and driuen backe againe whereas at other times they lost not a man but returned in victorie Againe let souldiers learne to keepe themselues from euill Deuter. 23. 9. For the battle or warfare is like a mans
death-bed and although a man haue made no conscience all the time of his health yet on his death-bed will he lie most deuout so let deuotion and religion raigne in them that follow the warres that euery mans death may be a sermon of repentance vnto them and let the trumpet admonish them of iudgement and their continuall danger awake them for the Lordes comming Oh that men of this life woulde so liue that they might fight in lesse danger ouercome with smaller losse liue with greater holinesse and die with greater honour die I saie to honour their countrey with their liues and their Sauiour with their soules Breake your plow shares into swordes and your sithes into speares let the weake say I am strong Hauing handled the pressing of the souldiers now it followeth that we goe to the preparation of weapons in this verse where he biddeth them to take their tooles wherewith they husbande the earth and turne them into the instruments of warre whereby we may obserue that the warre which the faithfull haue against their enimies is as needfull or more needfull then tillage of the earth Gen. 14. 14 15. Abraham to recouer againe Lot tooke all his houshold both shepherds and other and followed the kings which lead him away captiue and by a mayne battle ouerthrew them all And surely many times there is none but they may doe more good in the warre then at the plow and at the slaughter of men then at the mowing of corne If Abraham had not stirred presently all had beene lost and then woe had been Lot which should haue liued a prisoner and forgot the God of Abraham therefore better was it to leaue the sheepe to the danger of the woolfe and the earth to bee vntilled and ouergrowen with weeds then to let any soules of God be captiuate by man or bee taken away from the flocke and visible church of God The reasons First because it is waged for the Lord and for the church 2. Sam. 10. 12. now then it being sometime a part of the Lords seruice what worldly worke is there that must not yeelde vnto it Yea though it be as naturall as the tillage of the earth Againe then doth the Lord take vengeance of the sinnes of wicked men whereupon they were accursed by the prophet Ieremie that did the worke of the Lord negligently meaning those which did not execute the fulnesse of his wrath vpon the wicked that he had giuen into their hands Therefore learne the necessitie of warre and when thou art called then refraine not to come Ios 1. 14. to helpe thy brethren for they are accursed that follow not willingly the warre of God Iudg. 5. 23. Deborah cursed Meroz because it did not helpe Barac against Sisera and so are those faint harted and white-liuered souldiers who are afraide to loose their life in the Lords quarrell Some that are great presse forwarde those that are vnder them other beeing lawfully called buie out their calling with money and so auoide the warre substituting some one or other in their place who peraduenture runneth away before the battle Yea if it be so necessarie let them learne that God is sometime as well serued by killing in the fielde as at an other time by praying in the church and it is better for them to leaue wife and children to goe and fight against the Lords enemies then to liue at home and follow their dayly labour Let vs also learne to entreate the Lord to go forth with our armies against our enimies Psal 44. 9. for there is no policie like his presence no captaine like his direction no power like his grace no sworde like his anger no foe like his displeasure no shot like his breath and no danger like his absence Oh therefore if Barac would not goe except Deborah went with him then goe not to the warre except the Lord goe with thee The Israelites neuer lost battle wherein Iosuah was and therefore neuer shall wee loose the field if the Lord be on our side Let his call command thee his cause prouoke thee his presence arme thee and then shall neuer foe hurt thee Let him be thy captaine to go before thy company to follow after thy prouision to feed thy campe let his lawes gouerne thy souldiers his presence shal preserue thee from danger Oh pray when thou goest that he may guide thee when thou trainest that he may see thee whē thou fightest that he may saue thee Secondly when he thus calleth vnto thē to turne their plowshares into swords and their siethes into speares we may note that it is a thing requisite that euery one doe prouide him weapons for the defence of his countrie and therefore doth the spirite of God 1. Sam. 13. 23. account it a detestable policie of the Philistines who tooke away all the smiths out of Israell because they woulde keepe the Israelites without weapon for therein they were neuer able to trie their cause and to auenge themselues of their tyrannie The reason first because no man by the law of God is forbidden to defend himselfe although in his owne defence he kill his aduersarie yet coulde he not be blamed because the Lord had deliuered him into his hand And in truth I thinke it a rare policie of the diuell in the mouthes of Anabaptists denying Christians to weare weapons because thereby the Turks and Pagans might come vpon vs vnarmed men and so take away our liues and our profession together therefore I hold it as needefull for a man to weare weapon to defende himselfe from wounds as for a man to take physicke to preserue himselfe from sicknesse Let vs not spend more time herein then needeth but let vs learne that we prouide the weapons of the spirit Ephes 6. 11. Bee not armed against men and vnarmed against the diuell be as cunning to defend thy soule from hell as thou wouldest bee to defende thy life from death Seest thou not that a whole nation are ouercome without weapon and so shalt thou be ouercome without the sword of the spirite the shield of faith the helmet of saluation and the darts of faithfull praiers to wounde the infernall foes They are stronger therefore thou must learne more cunning they are wiser therfore thou must get more strength they are swifter therefore thou must strike more sure they are more dangerous therefore thou must bee more zealous Againe when he biddeth the weake to say that they are strong he thereby teacheth vs that we must not admit any excuse to keepe vs from the battell neither sicknesse nor lamenesse nor pouertie nor riches nor youth nor gentrie nor weakenesse must excuse men from fighting of the Lords battels but rather the zeale to doe him seruice must exceede and excell the want which oppresseth vs. Therefore learne from hence how thou oughtest to liue in all thy waies that God looketh for at thy hand no excuse can be
euer admitted none can be exempted from religion because they are honourable or from the gospell because they are rich or from sermons because they are learned or from the churches because they are tender or from praier because they are sicke or from warre because they are weake but the weake must say I am strong Rather pray the more and goe the farther and heare the oftener and obey the willinglier and professe more earnestly because God hath made thee sicke or poore or weake or rich or tender or honourable or learned for I tell thee that there is no excuse from comming into the Lords vineyarde Thou canst not come into heauen by a proxee or substitute another to heare the gospell for thee but in thy owne person and soule and strength or weakenesse thou must enter into it Therefore now looke to the matter if euer thou wilt obtaine grace for although we satisfied the wrath of God by another namely by Christ yet we cannot be sanctified in any mans person but in our owne All the lazers and lame diseased men of Israel came from all quarters thereof to be laide by the poole of Bethesda to be washed and cured and none suffered any let to keepe them away in like manner let all the weake and lame soules of the world come to worship the Lord and let not any hinderance keepe them backe The xxxix Sermon Vers 11. Assemble your selues and come all yee heathen and gather your selues togither round about there shall the Lord cast downe thy mightie men 12. Let the heathen be wakened and come vp to the valley of Iehoshaphat for there will I sit to iudge all the heathen round about AS in the former verses he called the souldiers which shoulde bee the ministers of his wrath to destroie his enimies so nowe againe the second time hee calleth the heathen to iudgement to prepare them for the execution and although their destruction shoulde come of themselues yet the Lorde calleth them to battle that they might knowe it proceedeth from him Concerning the first part of these two verses namely the gathering of the heathen into the valley of Iehoshaphat wee haue alreadie spoken in the seconde verse of this chapter Therefore we wil brieflie touch that which is not hādled already I might first note vnto you that the Lord careth not for all the multitude of the world althogh they were vp in armes against him when hee saith Assemble your selues and come all yee heathen meaning to warre and defende themselues against his souldiers before called Secondly in these words I might shew you how the heathen and infidels in all their warres trust to their multitudes and bring all the force they can make as we may reade of the Madianites against Gedeon and the Philistines against Barac but it is the Lorde that ouerthroweth the horse and the ryder I will cast downe thy mightie men By these wordes the prophet telleth vs that God will deale with the strongest and confounde them Luk. 1. 52. The Lorde who is of great wisedome and infinite strength and power doth buckle alway with them that are of greatest account suffering the pride of the lesser to be punished by men but he himselfe controuleth the oppressions of the mightie Whereby wee may see that there is no cause why wee shoulde feare anie force or furie or rage of man for hee can and doth take the mightiest to ouerthrow them When we see any lifting vp themselues aboue their brethren then are wee to thinke their pride is ascending vp before the Lorde to be crossed This is a sweete instruction and comfort for the poore members of Christ for as there are none in the worlde more humble than themselues so there are none more oppressed by the pride of other than they are But they may heere learne that their mightiest foes are neerest to the vengeance of God The reasons First because his name is omnipotent Exod. 15. 4. this was the reason that Moses gaue of the ouerthrowe of Pharaoh and therefore it is no maruaile if any man or army or nauie or castle or king or emperour be throwne downe as the snowe falleth from heauen for the omnipotencie of his name remaineth for euer By it he drowned the giants he burned the Sodomites he ouerthrew the Egyptians hee slewe the Cananites hee captiuated the Israelites hee hath changed the liues of great princes and shall at the latter day iudge both quicke and dead Another reason bicause strong and mightie men doe mightily abuse their strength as we may see in Goliah who knowing his owne strength came and defied all Israell And surely heerein we may greatlie lament the estate of the worlde for men doe abuse all the benefits of God Such is the corruption of sinne in Adams children that their riches are the coales of iniquitie their authoritie a libertie to transgresse their health a patent for worldly vanity their strēgth a sufficient charter to reuile God and oppresse man But as Dauid the least in Israel cut off that monsters head so shall the least part of the Lordes power take reuenge vpon our highest abuses Let vs therefore learne to be humbled vnder the hande of God 1. Pet. 5. 6. For if we be poore and base men will punish vs but if we be high rich God himselfe will plague and cast vs downe But alas we are neuer humble till it be too late namely till we be laide in our graues for while wee liue pride is rooted in vs that it will not out of vs there is such league betwixt the life of man and the sin of man as was betwixt Naomi and Ruth for nothing but death can part them in sunder Who would be rich to be spoiled by theeues who woulde be wicked to be damned by diuels and who would be proud to be plagued by God Aduance not thy soule for thy birth or thy wealth or thy friendes or thy office or thy libertie or thy strength for God will cast downe the mightie men distrust thy vertues and thy cause and thy fauour and thy health and thy ioy and thy life for if thou bee exalted in anie of these God will surelie humble thee to thy shame Let the heathen bee wakened Nowe hee sheweth vs that the heathen after they had spoiled the church grewe to securitie and therefore hee calleth on them to bee awaked for there were no manhood in it to slay them in their sleepe By which we may note that the wicked in their greatest securitie shall be drawen vnto iudgement Ier. 22. 23. when their buildings are stately their bodies healthie their mindes loftie their wealth abundant and their liues past feare then then commeth the alarme of their miserie waking them from their soft beds heauie sleepe sweete loue pleasant pastime easie health and happy ioy to gather them into the slaughter-house of hell Oh that men would mitigate their desire of pleasure and once distrust their
any blood Secondly the nature of it is to crie for vengeance in the eares of God Gen. 4. 10. as the Lord saide to Cain and therefore I thinke verily there will come a day that our recusants which are the ofspring of many bloodie persecutours shall haue the blood of the Lords saints reuenged vpon them But if the blood of saints shall be so reuenged then much more shall the blood of Christ Heb. 10. 29. There are only two kinds of people vpon whom the Lord wil bring the blood of his son the Iewes whom we see scattered ouer all the world being accounted a verie miserable and forlorne people the other are the contemners of the Gospell which make no account to be saued thereby who are in a maner as guiltie of the death of Christ as were the soldiers Iewes that nayled him on the crosse Wherfore God will not forget how they tread vnder their feete his pretious blood Againe let vs take occasion to praise the Lord which letteth not the blood of his children be shed in vaine Deut. 32. 43. as he blesseth them that take reuenge vpon his enimies make them fall to the earth so he curseth thē that cause any of his seruants to com to their latter end Again by this verse we may note that the blood of the Lords saints is innocent 2. King 21. 16. whatsoeuer lawes of princes or decrees of men be laide to their charge yet this must stil comfort them that if they die for the Lords cause they are innocent and shall certainly receiue life eternall The reasons because thorough hatred and malice of the world are they deliuered Ioh. 17. 4 Secondly being the seruants of righteousnes they cannot bee iustly executed for the same Rom. 6. 18. Let vs bee heereby encouraged not to feare death 1. Pet. 2. 19. for if we die naturally we die happily and if we die violently we die innocently Againe let not any of vs that are Christians suffer for our euill doing 1. Pet. 4. 15. but rather let vs watch ouer our liues that no sinful danger of humane lawes doe euer ouertake vs. But Iudah shall dwell for euer and Ierusalem from generation to generation For I will clense their blood that I haue not clensed and the Lord shall dwell in Zion These verses containe the last promises of the Lord vnto his church grounded vpon the presence of God among them First for their perpetuitie Secondly for the declaration of their innocencie which hee noteth when he saith that he will clense their blood c. when as vpon the report of the iniuries receiued in the former verse he presently addeth that they shall dwell for euer we may note that the wrongs which good men in this life endure shall bee one meanes to forwarde their rest and glorification Psa 12. 5. For this is the fruit of our afflictions to perswade the Lord for our immortalitie for as when the Israelites cried in Egypt then the Lord brought them into Canaan so when wee crie for our wrongs we are readiest for heauen The reasons God euermore hath an eie to the afflicted Psal 9. 13. Secondly then are we most like to the sonne of God and when we are likest to him on earth wee are neerest to him in heauen Let vs so beare our afflictions and wrongs as if we were borne for them 1. Cor. 4 9. for we see they shall turne to our greater ioy But of this matter we haue spoke often I might also remember out of this verse when he saith that Iudah and Ierusalem shall dwell for euer hee meaneth not the citie Ierusalem for that is long agoe destroied but he meaneth that the Iewes shall neuer be vtterly destroied but many of them shal be saued in the world to come When he saith that he wil clense their blood that is hee will manifest to all the worlde that they were not iustly executed but vniustly murdered whereby we may see at length that the wicked whether they were wilfully blinded or ignorantly affected in persecuting good men yet they shall know and so shall other that they murdered them vniustly as the Iewes which shall see Christ whom they pearced Reuel 1. 7. Mat. 27. 3 4. for wilfull murders cannot be euerlastingly concealed and it is al one before God to steale by authoriti◠or without law to kill by law or without authority Lastly we may see when he saith he will dwell in Zion that the presence of God preserueth the church Reuel 1. 13. how can it euer perish when the Lord maintayneth it Surely sathan told Christ that he could not do amisse for the Angels watched about him and held him vp that at no time he should dash his foot against a stone If the helpe of Angels in the diuels conceit was so great to preserue Christ then much greater is the presence and hand of God to vphold his church Hee alone buildeth it that it fal not keepeth it that it fade not dresseth it that it may be holy preserueth it that it may be godly so that so long as the Lord endureth so long shall the church stand maugre the might of all the diuels in hell To the which God euerlasting immortall and onely wise the most glorious Trinitie the Father the Sonne the holy Ghost let vs render all praise ascribe all maiestie and giue our whole spirits soules and bodies that he may be glorified in vs and we be glorified in him Amen Amen FINIS Cassianus Ioseph de antiq lib. 12. Herod lib. 7. Sabel Enn. lib. 9. Enn. 5. Ioseph lib. 7. cap. 24. Stobaeus ser 96 Fulg. lib. 1. 2. Cypr. aduers Demetr Aug. de Ciuit. lib. 7. cap. 11. Sab. lib. 4. Ennead 6. Plutarch Boeth lib. 8. Eurip. Plut. de amore Duditius de cometis The time of this prophesie The scope of this labour The diuision of this prophesie Cap. 1. vers 1. The prophets sermons are the Lordes owne words Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. Vse 2. If God did not send his word none would aske for it Reas 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Men preferred before angels in the preaching of the word Reas 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 The ministers must call on the people to heare Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 The greatest men should be the greatest professors Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. a Principes cum ad limen delubri veniunt proinde sunt atque priuati 2 None must liue in the Church vnlesse they outwardly bee subiect to the Gospell Reason 1. 2 Vser 2 God his works must be perpetually remembred Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 We must tell our children what God hath done in our daies Reason 1. 2 Vse 1 2 Be carefull what we commit to posteritie Reason 1. No impiety but it will find some followers 2 Vse 1. 2 A speciall iudgement to increase hurtfull beastes Reason 1. 2 Vse 1. 2 Euery little beast can ouercome the welfare of man * Ecce me inquit qui vobis Deus videor
their body were changed into wormes as Herods was should not this neither Oh yes but seldome times will you say are these things wrought I graunt it so indeede but much seldomer are men amēded by hearing of them in other or feeling them in themselues Tarry not to conuert I beseech you till these wonders be wrought againe tempt not the Lord of heauen and earth with deferring the day of repentance For bee you assured that contemning the riches of his grace and abusing the patience of his long suffering while his word and Gospell is preached and not beleeued he will verifie that prophesie vpon you that was long agoe pronounced Reuel 19. 17. vpon the enimies of Christes Gospell Come ye foules of the heauen to the great supper of the great God that yee may eate the flesh of kings and captaines and mighty men of horses and riders offree and bond of small and great Oh then will it be too late to cast away pleasures to curse your delaies to imbrace the Gospell and to crie peace when the sword of God is dipped in blood Another vse hereof may be this that seeing the greatest and strongest creatures were by nature and creation subiect to man now not onely they but also all other both great and small through our transgressions are become either our enimies or else our conquerors This must teach vs how odious and abhominable a thing is sinne and wickednesse in the presence of the eternall God and his vnreasonable creatures it was forbidden by God it was condemned by angels it is reuenged by beastes and punished by diuels it droue Adam from paradise it kept Moses from Canaan it destroyed the inhabitants of Ierusalem and hath excluded infinite thousandes from the kingdome of heauen It was committed by the blood of soules it was redeemed by the life of Christ it was reprooued by the death of martyrs and yet it is maintained by the practise of multitudes Oh whose hart is not diuided to see such a monster more made of than all good things which was hatched by the diuell and fed by the life of soules and yet raigneth that it may winne millions of soules to condemnation Shall reasonable men rescue it when vnreasonable beastes fight against it euery creature in his kinde cries vengeance against it It made the angels damnable it made the world abhominable it maketh the beastes corruptible and it maketh men miserable Miserable I say by birth for they are borne in it miserable by life for they are vexed with it and most miserable by death for they are cursed with it We haue already heard that the sinnes of Egypt were punished and reuenged by lice and the sinnes of Herod were requited by wormes and vnto these adde the sinne of the prophet that reprooued Ieroboam 1. Reg. 13. 24. which was rewarded by a lion Thus doth the earth crie woe vnto it for it cursed her thus doth the heauens hate it for it destroyeth her children thus doth the starres fight against it because it dazeleth their light and thus doe wilde beastes warre against it because it encreaseth their grones Oh then let not vs men bring vp that mōster hatch vp the coccatrices egs which so soone as it is deliuered and conceiued it giueth our liues mortall woundes If wicked Herod in slaying the children of Bethleem thinking thereby to slay Christ did not refraine his crueltie from his owne houshold but also put his owne sonnes to death least they should afterward trouble him for his kingdome how much more ought we not to imitate his crueltie but his policie to bridle our natures to chaine our affections to subdue our lustes to conquer our desires and to forsake our pleasures that we might bathe the sword of God his lawe in the blood of our owne sinnes seeing if it liue we must die and if it die we shall liue It commeth vnto vs with the Sirens song it embraceth vs friendly as Ioab did Abner but while it saluteth vs with one hand it stabbeth vs with the other It promiseth vs faire as Iael did to Sisera and it giueth vs milke in steede of water it serueth vs in plate it clotheth vs in purple it lodgeth vs in ease but in the end it slaieth our soules as she did Sisera it maketh much of vs as the high priests did of Iudas it maketh vs gentlemen of rascals it maketh vs rich men of beggers it maketh vs companions of princes it deliuereth vs when others are endangered but in the ende it tieth the halter to our necks and maketh speede for our execution it serueth vs as the harlot did the yoong man Prouerb 7. it kisseth vs it flattereth vs it pleaseth vs and it promiseth vs all sugred ioyes but yet it draweth vs as the oxe is drawen to the slaughter it biddeth vs take our ease followe pastimes auoide preaching loue not the prophets come not at the churches and forget all manner of godlinesse but in the ende it serueth vs as a noble man doth his olde spannell commending some to the gallowes some to the prisons some to noysome sicknesse some to pouertie some to slauerie some to madnesse some to vntimely death and some to vnmercifull hell Therefore heare and follow Salomons counsell Prou. 7. 24. Heare O my children let not your hearts decline to her waies and walke not in her pathes for she causeth many to fall downe wounded and strong men are slaine by her her house is the way vnto the graue which goeth downe to the chambers of death The sixth Sermon Vers 5. Awake O yee drunkards and weepe and howle O yee drinkers of wine because of the new wine for it shall be pulled from your mouth NOw we are to handle the exhortations of the prophet made and grounded on the premised calamitie The which exhortations for our more orderly and formall proceeding I will thus diuide some of them concerne the miserable ouerthrowe of their countrey by famine whereunto they are prepared by the prophets sermons and these are in this first chapter and to the twelfth verse of the second chapter the other generally stirre them vp vnto repentance from the twelfth to the eighteenth The first of these whereby the inhabitants of the land are admonished prepared for the iudgement is either for the people as in ver 5. 8. 11. or for the cleargie or ministerie as in the 13. of the first chapter the first of the second chapter That part which is directed to the people is by speciall names notes of persons described which are of two sorts either for their manners as drunkards ver 5. or for their occupation or trade of life as husbandmen ver 11. And also these exhortations haue their seueral reasons to mooue the people withall as in this we haue in hand he moueth the drunkards either to awake or to lament ver 5. 8. Vpon these causes the first concerne themselues vnto the nienth and from the nienth to the
eleuenth they concerne the Lord. That which mooueth them for themselues is first of all their penury and want ver 5. their pleasures and plentie should be pulled from their mouths Secondly in regard of the meanes how this should be effected which he describeth metaphorically by comparing the little beasts to a mighty nation ver 6. whose power is there also described in the 7. ver the worke which he should worke that the vines and figge trees the most pleasant profitable and necessarie plants of their countrey should be vtterly subuerted And this we will by the mercifull assistance of God his holy spirit first of all handle First of all the prophet calleth vpon those drunkardes to awake for we know that much drinking bringeth much sleeping and therefore before the prophet could speake vnto this kinde of persons he calleth vpon them to awake from their wine and to rouze vp themselues from the soft bed of their easie or rather beastlie sinnes And out of this we may behold how sweet is the sinne of drunkennes euen as sweet as sleepe is to the wearie body Againe here we may note how dangerous is the sinne of drunkennes that raigning in the bodies of men their mindes cannot be instructed their follies cannot be reprooued and their liues cannot be amended for they are alwaies sleepie and drouzie so that nothing can enter into their hearts so long as the loue of drinke raigneth in their mouthes and many other waies I could vrge this similitude or metaphor of the prophet but I omit them because they are well and worthily declared by other This therefore will I obserue out of this worde Awake that if men be not reclaimed by the preaching of God his worde they shall suddenly be destroied by the comming of his iudgements Awake saith the prophet as if in other words he had declared his meaning you sinners you gluttons you drunkards you vnmercifull men which are taking most delightfull pleasure in your seuerall iniquities You are lulled a sleepe by them but lift vp your eies with speed if you be not speedily remoued ere euery you thinke therof you shall be suddenly cōfounded The prophet Dauid Psal 58. 5. 7. 8 telleth vs that those which will not be rebuked by the prophets are like to the deafe adder which will not be cast out by the charmer and therfore he plainly telleth them that they should consume as the Ise doth and that they should melt away as a snaile in her owne shell that they should be ouerthrowne as quickly as a fire of small thornes that they should be like the vntimely fruit of a woman and that they should as speedily perish as an arrow flieth out of a bowe this selfe same wisedome threatens to her disobedient and incredulous children Pro. 1. 27. that seeing she had called but none had answered therefore their feare should come like sudden desolation and their destruction like a whirle winde There is not any thing among vs but serueth for some vse and the want therof is noysome vnto vs the day for labour the night for rest the winter for ploughing the sommer for reaping and so the worde of God is sent to awake vs before iudgement least iudgement should destroye vs. The old world would not be awaked by Noah and therefore they were drowned the Sodomites would not be awaked by Lot and therefore they were burned the Israelites would not be awaked by Ieremie and therefore they were captiuated the Iewes would not be awaked by Christ and therefore they were destroyed the Corinthians would not be awaked by Paul therfore they were spoiled by the heathen the inhabitants of Constantinople would not be awaked by Chrysostome and then the Barbarous Turke deuoured them and our countreymen of England will not be awaked by the preachers therefore famine warres plagues and sickenesses are seised vpon vs to ouerthrow vs. Oh if euer we will let vs now looke vpon it there is not one among vs but will cry against an open and notorious witch burne her burne her shee were not worthy to liue but against the open rebels against the word of God which as Samuell told Saule is equall or as damnable before God and all good men as is witchcraft yet we say nothing thereunto yea rather as Augustine saith most heauenly He is accompted a publique enimy who is displeased with these kinde of coniurations and him do the multitude turne out of audience displace out of reuerence and if they durst destroy him from among the liuing Oh my deare brethren what wil be the end of these mischiefs God his maiestie is alreadie reuiled Christ his sonne is alreadie denied the diuell their enimie is alreadie embraced the Gospell our saluation is already despised the church of God our most deare mother is already weakned the preachers of truth our most painefull watchmen are already defaced and will not the iudgements of God come also speedily to take vengeance vpon so manifold contempts and so abhominable rebellions yet let vs at least receiue this for truth that if yet we be not awakened we shortly shall be confounded The reasons of this doctrine are manifest First because as Salomon saith that the prosperitie of fooles shall slay them that is euen the meate which wicked men eate the clothes that couer them the friends that flatter them the professions that enrich them and the pleasures that reioice them shal turne God his word from them and them from euerlasting comfort Oh lamentable miserie or miserable follie that we should all of vs be so bewitched with our wealth which is a most mercifull and liberall blessing of God that we should be all rather payred then amended thereby such is the state of them that be rich to themselues and not to God Let vs then take heede to the most certaine worde of God to bee instructed by it to the most holy voice of preachers to be reclaimed by them and to the most terrible iudgements of God whensoeuer they bee vttered that we be not condemned by them for if we embrace and beleeue not the former we shall be embraced and corrected by the latter Secondly another reason heereof doth Dauid giue Psal 73. 27. That all those which withdrawe themselues from God shall perish and those which haue not the worde of God haue not God neither any comfortable feeling of his presence but rather a fearefull looking for of vengeance Oh how terrible and dangerous is the condition of all papisticall and carnall Recusants which do willingly absent themselues from our assemblies what doe they else but withdraw themselues from the Lorde and worke out their owne condemnation and therefore heauie is their case which as Esay saith 5. 24. As the fire deuoureth the stubble and the chaffe is consumed of the flame so their roote shal be as rottennes and their budde shall rise vp like dust because they haue cast off the lawe of the Lorde of hostes and contemned the
congregation secondly for the remouing of the campe and lastly when they went foorth to warre because the people might bee had in remembrance before God Although it be hard to shew whether in this discourse following the prophet meaneth the comming of the beastes before named or the comming of the Assyrians their enimies yet the matter is not so necessarie as that we should spende much time therein nor so difficult but it may bee decided and therefore I thinke that here is onely meant the comming of the noysome beastes because the description following is set foorth by similitudes taken from warre and not by flat and euident propositions the which course the Lorde doth take in other places when he noteth an inuasion as in Ierem. 50. In this place wee must first of all handle the blowing of the trumpet which was the priestes office and the cause thereof was to put them in minde of a danger for the people were now assembled and had neede to be terrified to the vttermost to make them humble as we may see the effect Amos. 3. 6. for the trumpet might bee hearde farre and neere as an alarme among vs. Wherefore wee may gather from hence that it is the ministers dutie to shewe the people of the Lordes wrath and the danger which they are subiect vnto for the same Ezech. 33. 2 3 4. if they sound not the trumpet the people cannot be prepared and then shall they endure a double condemnation they beare the Lords arke when they stand al must stand and when they goe all must goe and if they sound the trumpet and tell the dangers onely the disobedient come to destruction And thus wee may see how the hardest burthens and most dangerous are laide on the ministers backes for if they preach men will not beleeue them and then they are persecuted if they preach not God will forsake them and then they are damned being also subiect to all those dangers which themselues doe threaten the which thing might discourage men from that holy function but that the Lorde commandeth vs and enforceth vs thereunto And I woulde God that all the crosses and dangers which waite like pages or rather like iailers vpon the ministers office coulde bee sufficient to denie a passage or entrance vnto the vnlearned and vaine headed persons whereby for euer they might bee excluded from our callings but of this matter sufficient hath beene saide alreadie The reasons are these First bicause God openeth to them either ordinarily or extraordinarilie his purpose which hee will doe in his church for there hath not beene any great calamitie in the worlde but the Lord giueth knowledge thereof before it commeth so that his preachers might bee beleeued and destruction auoided Secondly they are the mouth of God to the church and of the church to God Matth. 18. 20. and therefore what they sounde God soundeth what they binde God bindeth and what they discharge God setteth at libertie yet so as their actions must bee guided by the Scriptures if they will haue God to confirme them The vses which wee are to make of this doctrine are these First that wee doe not onely teach the iudgements but ioyne with our doctrine an outwarde testimonie of their feare and a practise that may serue as a patterne for the people to repent by so the Lorde teacheth Ezech. 21. 6. 7. where the prophet is commanded to mourne bitterly as a man that mourneth for the paine of the raines And the cause followeth that when the people shoulde aske him hee might tell them that he mourned bicause euery heart shoulde melt and euery minde shoulde fainte and euery hande shoulde bee weake and euery knee shoulde fall away like water and what heart of stone or desperate minde coulde see his teares and heare his wordes and yet refraine from weeping It hath beene alreadie shewed that the example of the pastour is the best way to perswade the people and wee knowe by lamentable experience that where the preacher liueth ill his life doth more hurt then his preaching doth good Therefore my deere brethren when wee haue cause to threaten any iudgement of God let vs so temper our bodies as if wee felt it within vs as Ieremie did when hee cried out My bellie my bellie as if the calamitie had alreadie seised vpon vs. Let vs preach earnestlie let vs liue zealouslie and let our wordes and teares be heard in the pulpet and our praiers and feare in priuate communication and full often let vs vrge and constraine our affections that by manie passions as it were by many water drops the hardest heart of stone may be pierced thorough But it greeueth our hart that many preachers in many places when they haue taught most singularly on the Sabbaoth day so soone as the doore is shut some goe to tabling some to carding some to shooting some to bowling and some to banquetting which maketh the people thinke they did but mocke them in the pulpit Another vse which commeth by this doctrine is this that when wee haue so preached and so liued then may wee assure our soules of most excellent comfort as the Apostle doth Act. 18. 6. saie nowe are wee free from the bloud of all men so that a good conscience is the reward of a good preacher which is a greater benefite then any Bishopricke or preferment of the worlde when a man may reioice of his labours So that let euery preacher keepe this ioy and defile not his conscience for the conscience of a learned man once stained and corrupted seldome or neuer is quieted againe Looke vpon Eli his conscience and vpon the prophet which came to Ieroboam who was slaine by a lyon and vpon Ionah when hee was cast into the sea and vpon Iudas the most wretch that euer was borne when hee had betraied innocent bloude I coulde bring manie examples out of other writers if I shoulde not be tedious but of my owne knowledge I speake that I haue seene some in the ministerie endued with rare giftes and excellent learning vsing great diligence in their places yet being giuen ouer through naturall infirmitie their daies haue beene very fewe and very bitter therefore maintaine thy conscience with losse of life and liuing for it is an easier matter to beare all the reproches of the worlde then one of thy owne heart for it will turne the sworde of God in thy owne hande and cause it to wounde thy selfe neither shalt thou bee able to auoide it I grant that men of other callings haue no such dangerous slips therfore looke to thy soule for the diuell in dazeling thy light darkneth al thy people and by making thy owne conscience to accuse thee he will make good men to forsake thee the worlde to wonder at thee the spirit of God to depart from thee Sion my holy mountaine Sion was the hill whereupon the temple was builded for the which cause it is called the Holy mountaine
of God bicause thither came all the tribes to do seruice and sacrifice to the Lord therefore sometime it signifieth the church of God and all the members thereof as Psal 51. By these words I might note that although the ministers haue a priuate and a publique charge to warne the people yet they must haue a more speciall regard to the publique place Col. 4. 16. Isa. 66. 6. The reasons are First bicause Christ is alway present in the congregation Mat. 18. 20. and therefore if they haue any loue to their Sauiour there they must heare and see him Againe in the publique ministerie of the worde is giuen the holy Ghost Gal. 3. 2. so that if men would haue the pledge of their eternall inheritance thither they must resort where he is freely offered without money yea let them come from strength to strength that is be thy strength little or much vse the same to come to the church of God there is no more dispensation for weakenes then for health and therefore if thou wilt shew thy obedience and thy zeale to saluation then come when thy health and strength is most endangered for then will it bee like the poore widowes mite most acceptable to God If thou be a gentleman vse the helpe of thy horses and men if a woman take the helpe of thy husband if thou be poore craue thy neighbours hand as he did which was sicke of the palsie Mat. 9. 2. If thou be a seruant take so much the lesse pleasure to heare a sermon for in so doing thou shalt please the Lord and not disprofit thy maister Againe despise not the voice of him that speaketh Heb. 12. 25. for God which speaketh in vs is a consuming fire there was neuer angell that spake but the contempt of his words was seuerely punished and Zacharie because hee did a little doubt of the angels message lost his toong till his child was circumcised The ministers of God are called angels Reuel 2. 1. and therefore if thou beleeue them not then feare the losse of thy eares or thy toong or thy hands or thy heart but if thou contemne them and dally with them wantonly or despitefully oh feare the losse of body and soule for euer and euer but of these things we haue often times before spoken Againe if the voice of a trumpet could awake the Iewes and turne them to the Lord how is it that men and voices and Christ and Gospell cannot awake the men of our times the trumpet was blowen very seldome but the word is euery day and euery where preached and yet are not men prepared Nay verily a trumpet in the streets shall haue moe followers then a sermon in the temples and as Michab saith cap. 2. 11. new wine and strong drinke do make men rise early and goe late to bed that they may be filled therewith but yet the wine of the Lords truth cannot preuaile and therefore the wine of his wrath must make them drunken vnto death But in this that he biddeth the inhabitants to tremble at the sound of a trumpet we are taught that we must stand before the Lord with feare and trembling Ier. 6. 10. Ezr. 10. 9 but in our daies men quake in the congregation as steeples in the sea they are ready to laugh at that which should make them sorrow and to loath that which they should long after He is now accounted a milke-sop that will weepe when he heareth sinne reprooued and a very coward that feareth any euill yea though it bee eternall condemnation It is fearfull to consider that the presence of God shaketh the whole world and the power of his worde maketh the deserts to tremble and yet sillie men and in comparison of those like cornes of sand wil not shake nor tremble nor feare for any of all these And aboue all this mischiefe is to be considered that the longer we liue in the world the lesse feare of God or terrour of iudgement increaseth olde men grow carelesse through age yoong men grow dissolute through pleasure children waxe wanton through euill education and almost all men waxe woorse and woorse What is the church more regarded then an ale-house or a preacher more esteemed then an idoll or a saint more honoured then a diuell or religion more loued then Atheisine or the kingdome of heauen more longed after then an earthly inheritance No no truth yeeldeth to falshood charity to enuie quietnes to contention sobrietie to intemperancie law to vnrighteousnes faith to policie and christianitie to infidelity Helpe O you saints of the Lord to lament this mischiefe although we cannot amend it Put to your teares and your praiers that they may sound before God seeing GOD cannot any longer bee heard among men The reasons of this doctrine are these first because God dwelleth in them that tremble at his word Isa 66. 2. And againe this feare and trembling is a most manifest signe of the power of the worde Heb. 4. 12. so that where this trembling is wanting there can bee no true deuotion whatsoeuer diligence bee vsed because the word cannot haue any free passage in our soules For as a childe careth not for his maister whome he feareth not so a man careth not for the gospell when hee trembleth not Yea on the other side wee rebell against the wisedome of God and spurne his word with our feete when we suffer it not to go through our harts We reade that Og and Sihon two great kings would not suffer the people of Israel to goe through their countries the which discurtesie cost them their liues their land and their subiects and all because they woulde not graunt a path-way euen so if we let not the worde of God pearse cleane thorough vs and quietly with curtesie giue it entertainment in our harts he will take them by force and giue vs to be a miserable spoile to diuels If Iudas had had any grace when he heard our Sauiour curse that man that should betray him hee woulde neuer haue gone farther but let his action fall but hee did as our hearers doe heare his owne condemnation and not beleeue it and therefore they shall doe as he did repent when it is too late giuing their liues in stead of their eares and their blood in stead of obedience and yet alas alas all will not serue their turne The vses hereof are these first seeing we must feare and tremble at the ministerie of the worde then it followeth that we shall be comforted thereby for it is written Blessed are they that mourne for they shall be comforted and thus the Lord assureth his people Isa 66. 5. that for their feare he would giue them safetie and for their trembling hee woulde giue them ioy and their enimies should be ashamed at it Therefore if you would feele the sweete taste of the word of God and receiue the ioyfull newes of your saluation then learne to tremble at the hearing thereof